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THE   INDIVIDUAL  IN  HIS   RELATION  TD 
THE  SOCIAL   SYSTEM 


BY 

JOHN    PARSONS. 


'All  are  needed  by  each  one 
Nothing  is  fair  or  good  alone." 

KMERSOK. 


STURGIS  &  WALTON 

COMPANY 

1909 


Copyright,  jgop 
By    JOHN    PARSONS 


■ffn  /iDemorv  of 

EDWIN    PARSONS 

SAGACIOUS    SELF  RELIANT    GENEROUS 
Alfred,  maine.  1823—1895 


PREFACE. 

The  social  questions  of  the  day  are  clamoring  for 
solution.  Newspapers  and  periodicals  are  incessantly 
discussing  the  subject  but  they  often  leave  us  in 
perplexity.  There  is  no  lack  of  scientific  works  for 
trained  scholars,  and  elaborate  cyclopedias  are  within 
reach.  But  few  general  readers  know  how  to  use 
either  of  them.  A  handy  volume  is  needed,  both  for 
study  and  for  convenient  reference.  A  full  index 
should  refer  to  every  phase  and  illustration  of  the 
subject;  and  the  application  of  its  principles  should 
be  made  systematic  and  luminous  by  well  reasoned 
discussion. 

This  is  precisely  the  want  which  the  author  of  this 
book  has  tried  to  meet.  It  is  not  a  scientific  treatise 
on  sociology,  but  it  applies  the  results  thus  far  reached 
by  science  to  a  mass  of  questions  in  education,  in- 
dustry, philanthropy,  government  and  religion.  The 
author  has  kept  constantly  in  view  the  requirements 
of  students,  teachers,  preachers,  editors  and  public 
speakers.  Societies  for  research  in  this  field  are  ex- 
tending far  beyond  our  universities.  Working  men 
are  discussing  these  things  thoroughly.  Many  clubs 
are  making  social  science  the  central  object  of  their 
organization.  Public  libraries,  especially  in  small 
villages  far  removed  from  large  collections  of  books, 
ought  to  have  something  in  small  compass  which  will 
guide  these  eager  investigations. 


viii.  PREFACE 

And  sooner  or  later  we  shall  find  that  the  place  of 
the  individual  in  economical,  political  and  other 
systems,  which  are  all  becoming  more  and  more 
complicated,  is  the  pivot  on  which  theory  and  practice 
must  turn.  The  readers  of  this  book  will  instinctively 
put  themselves  in  the  place  of  the  individual  who 
is  mentioned  on  almost  every  page,  and  will  probably 
find  themselves  finally  either  in  cordial  agreement 
with,  or  firmly  opposed  to,  its  contentions. 

The  author  began  to  write  with  no  intention  to 
exceed  the  dimensions  of  a  magazine  article.  He  found 
however,  the  social  factors  so  numerous  and  the  meth- 
od of  operations  so  varied  that  more  space  than  a 
periodical  could  give  would  be  required.  The  only 
way  left  for  presenting  the  discussion  to  the  eye  of 
the  public  must  be  in  book  form  which,  wisely  or 
unwisely,  he  has  ventured  to  attempt  in  the  present 
volume. 

J.  P. 
Alfred,  Maine. 
October  26,  1909. 


CONTENTS. 

Introduction. 

Society  and  the  individual  contrasted  p.  i.  Social 
progress  not  hostile  to  individualism  2.  Purpose  of 
this  book  3. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Social  System. 

Society  not  invented  by  men  7.  Founded  on  hu- 
man nature  7.  Developed  by  progress  of  civilization 
7.  Dependence  of  the  individual  upon  society:  for 
economy  7;  for  companionship  8;  for  guidance  10. 
Dependence  of  society  upon  the  Individual :  for 
initiation  10;  for  leadership  12;  for  ideals  13;  So- 
ciety as  an  organism  14:  Inner  purpose  14;  Inner 
control  16.  Inner  growth  17.  Social  groups:  Eco- 
nomic   20;  Intellectual    22;  Moral    22;  Religious    23. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Individual  Initiative. 

Based  on  faculties  peculiar  to  each  26.  Due  to 
accident  29;  to  outer  suggestion  30;  to  plan  and  cal- 
culation 35;  to  inner  suggestion  39;  to  extraordinary 
suggestion  43. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Diffusion. 
Six  methods  of  social  influence  47.  The  most  ele- 
mentary, Diffusion  49:  of  ideas  52;  of  sentiments  55; 
of  moral  principles  57;  of  political  movements  58; 
of  actions  by  initiation  60;  of  excitements  61.  Con- 
tributions of  the  diffusive  method  of  civilization  66. 

ix. 


X.  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Succession. 

Advantages  over  Diffusion:  by  arrangement  69; 
by  taking  agents  one  by  one  69 ;  by  economy  of  effort 
69.  Importance  of  our  relations  to  space  and  time  70. 
Spatial  successions  usef til :  for  communication  7 1 ; 
for  transportation  72 ;  for  guidance  and  occupancy  78. 
Temporal  successions  useful:  for  fulfillment  of  past 
obligations  8t,;  or  adjustment  to  the  present  91; 
for  determination  of  the  future  93:  informal  93,  for- 
mal 95.     Individual  responsibility  98. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Divergence. 

Effectiveness  depends  on  grade  of  civilization  102. 
Advantages  over  previous  methods:  economy  of 
force  103;  uniformity  of  result  104;  orderly  spread 
of  influence  104.  Types  unorganized:  for  commerce 
105  and  for  social  inflitences  106.  City  centres  107. 
Association  no.  Incorporation  in.  Divergence  in 
government  114,  and  in  forces  of  civilization  116. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Convergence. 

Economy  and  effectiveness  118:  improvement  of 
integers  119;  opportunity  for  leadership  119;  Com- 
plementary to  Divergence  120.  Collective  conver- 
gence :  temporary  121;  periodical  122;  of  great  lead- 
ers 123;  permanent  in  great  cities  123.  Association 
126,  incorporation  127,  unification  128.  Conver- 
gence in  government  131 ;  in  forces  of  civilization  134; 
in  religious  forces  135. 


CONTENTS  xi. 

CHAPTER  VTI. 

Germination. 

Power  of  this  method  to  transform  the  forces  needed 
140.  Germination  in  the  individual:  in  infancy  141, 
in  early  years  142,  parental  and  educational  influences 
144,  importance  of  early  decisions  146.  Germination 
by  descent:  heredity  147:  of  family  traits  149,  of 
national  and  racial  traits  152.  Social  germination: 
of  ideas  154,  of  institutions  156. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Correlation. 

Sixth  method  combines  the  five  previous  164. 
Based  on  organization  165,  only  in  developed  so- 
ciety 167,  by  indirection  168,  by  successive  summa- 
tion of  forces  171,  by  simultaneous  cooperation  173, 
by  reaction  176,  by  coalition  182,  by  adjustment  183, 
Most  effective  of  the  six  189. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Grades  of  Influence. 

Determined  by  the  method  employed  190,  by  the 
leader's  sagacity  191,  integrity  192,  persevenence  193, 
magnetism  194.  Also  by  his  sphere  of  operation: 
economic  195,  governmental  196,  educational  197, 
moral  and  religious  198,  or  all  combined  200.  Also 
by  his  genius:  not  subject  to  system  201,  nor  to 
classification  202.  Great  men  in  action  202,  in 
thought  and  imagination  203.  Christ  supreme  lead- 
er: by  influence  on  mind  and  affections  205,  on  con- 
duct and  work  206.      His  power  increasing  forever  206. 


xii.  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  X. 

Tendencies  to  Permanence. 

Conditioned  on  durability  of  the  integers  209,  and 
of  the  nexus  in  any  system  211;  on  adjustment  and 
agreement  of  internal  forces  211;  on  adaptation  to 
environment:  physical  213,  social  215,  moral  220; 
on  habit  in  the  six  methods  224.  Permanence  of 
religion:  in  the  life  of  the  individual  239,  and  of  the 
race  240. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Progress      of      Individualism      through      Social 
Evolution. 

Social  progress  not  away  from  individualism  243. 
In  the  primitive  period  245;  in  ancient  monarchies 
247;  in  Greek  city  states  248;  in  the  Roman  empire 
253 ;  in  the  Middle  ages  257  ;  in  the  modern  period  263  ; 
conclusion    274. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Reading  Life  Backward  and  Forward. 
Importance  of  the  subject  275.  Conditions  of 
retrospect :  permanence  of  the  system  277,  continuity 
of  the  system  279,  distinction  of  factors  280.  Aids 
to  retrospect:  the  system  makes  disclosures  281,  and 
man  applies  tests  281.  Retrospect  by  the  six  meth- 
ods 282-291.  Prediction  by  the  six  methods  292-303. 
Forecast  of  the  unseen  world  303:  by  inference  from 
sociological  principles  304,  by  assuming  that  the  world 
is  a  rational  plan  304,  by  taking  the  present  order  as  a 
prophecy  of  the  future  304,  by  the  argument  from 
incompleteness  305,  by  instinctive  feeling  307,  and 
from  social  faculties  growing  stronger  in  old  age  310. 
Reading  life  backward  in  the  future  world:  com- 
plete 315,  based  on  inference  from  general  principles 
315,  and  on  following  system  connections  316.  These 
are  adequate  intimations  of  immortalit}^  316. 


co.vr/s.vrs  xiii 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Harm  Ix  The  System. 

Distinction  between  abnormal  and  structural  harm 
317.  The  six  methods  in  abnormal  operation  317. 
Structural  harm :  the  system  itself  impaired  or  destroy- 
ed 318;  the  harm  varies  ^vith  the  degree  of  organiza- 
tion 328;  may  destroy  its  solidarity  by  breaking  con- 
nections T,^^;  or  by  crippling  component  parts  333. 
Structural  harm  in  various  systems:  school  325. 
military  325,  executive  326.  judiciary  337,  legislative 
339.  Application  of  these  principles  to  the  moral 
government  of  the  tmi verse  340. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Cure  of  H.\rm. 

Preliminary  principles:  Social  system  developing 
342,  self  limiting  power  of  evil  343,  Cure  by  inherent 
rallying  power  344,  and  by  supplementary  aid:  of 
family  relation  350,  of  sympathy  350,  of  education  353. 
of  renewals  383,  of  reformed  penology  359,  of  religion 
361.  Encouragement  of  this  survey  364. 

CONCLUSION. 

Progress  from  the  beginning  of  the  race  368. 
Heritage  from  all  ages  369.  Our  obligations  370. 
Better  chance  for  the  average  man  372. 


EACH  FOR  ALL 

AND 

ALL  FOR   EACH 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  now  more  than  two  generations  since 
the  youthful  hero  of  Locksley  Hall  complained 
that  "  the  individual  withers  and  the  world 
is  more  and  more."  This  gloomy  view  is 
shared  by  many  persons  to-day.  Corpora- 
tions, trusts,  combines,  magnates  and  ma- 
chinery of  all  kinds,  we  are  told,  make  it 
harder  and  harder  for  the  individual  to  live; 
and  we  hear  much  depressing  prophecy  as 
to  the  outcome.  There  is  also  a  certain 
tendency  to  dwell  on  the  vastness  and  com- 
plexity of  modern  society,  until  one  man 
seems  to  count  for  nothing  among  social 
causes.  Then  too  the  idea  of  law  is  con- 
stantly emphasized  so  that  the  individual 
appears  as  drifting  helplessly  in  the  current. 

Such  a  view  is  highly  superficial.  It  mis- 
takes the  changes  that  are  incidental  to 
social  progress  for  abiding  limitations  of  in- 
dividual opportunity.  Every  step  forward 
brings  loss  to  someone.     When   the  sewing 


2  INTRODUCTION 

machine  '*was  invented  it  caused  distress 
among  seamstresses.  When  the  raih'oad  sup- 
planted the  stage  coach,  it  made  hard  times 
for  inn-keepers  and  drivers  of  coaches.  The 
substitution  of  electricity  for  horse  power 
in  our  street-car  systems  was  a  calamity  for 
breeders  of  horses.  The  concentration  of 
industry  in  large  corporations  often  drives 
the  small  manufacturers  to  the  wall;  and  it 
is  quite  conceivable  that  some  new  invention 
should  send  most  of  our  costly  machinery 
to  the  scrap  heap,  by  superseding  it.  Just 
now  retail  dealers  throughout  the  country 
are  in  dread  of  the  parcel  post,  lest  it  give 
undue  advantage  to  the  great  city  stores. 

But  such  changes  are  not  hostile  to  indi- 
vidualism. When  we  have  adjusted  our- 
selves to  the  new  order,  we  find  that  every- 
body is  better  off.  No  one  would  now  be 
benefitted  by  going  back  to  the  needle,  the 
scythe,  the  flail,  the  stage  coach,  or  to  the 
inefficient  manufacturing  processes  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  such  a  return  would  be 
a  calamity  to  civilization.  Indeed  there  is 
good  reason  for  thinking  that  the  individual 
never  had  so  good  a  chance  as  he  has  to-day. 
The  inventions  and  combinations,  which  for 
a  time  seemed  to  work  against  him,   have 


INTRODUCTION  3 

in  tlic  loiis^  run  hcli^cd  him  to  larj^cr  oppor- 
tunities and  a  more  human  life.  vSociety  Vjy 
no  means  annuls  the  individual,  on  the  con- 
trary the  individual  comes  to  himself  only 
through  society,  and  society  grows  only 
through  the  effort  of  the  individual.  Man 
without  society  is  impossible,  and  society 
without  man  is  nothing.  The  existing  so- 
cial order  is  the  matrix  of  the  individual 
new-comer.  It  furnishes  him  with  organized 
life,  with  language  and  willi  a  great  body 
of  customs,  traditions,  ideas,  knowledge  and 
incentives,  which  are  the  net  results  of  col-  ; 
lective  experience.  Only  by  means  of  so-  ; 
ciety  can  the  individual  attain  his  normal/ 
development  or  acquire  any  effective  signi- 
ficance in  the  world. 

The  purpose  of  the  present  volume  is  to 
enforce  and  illustrate  the  importance  of  the 
individual  in  the  social  order.  It  makes  no 
claim  to  a  position  among  scientific  treatises 
of  sociology.  The  author  has  frequently 
been  impressed,  in  his  observation  and  read- 
ing, with  the  power  of  individual  influence. 
Single  acts  of  no  apparent  moment  have  often 
produced  great  and  permanent  results.  In 
attempting  to  trace  the  connection  bet\veen 
these  seemingly  trivial  causes  and  their  vast 


4  INTRODUCTION 

effects,  he  has  been  led  to  study  the  forms 
and  conditions  of  human  influence  in  general, 
and  these  he  aims  to  describe  in  familiar 
speech,  as  throwing  light  upon  the  significance 
of  the  individual.  The  questions  involved 
profoundly  affect  the  larger  interests  of  man- 
kind, whether  in  industry,  philanthropy,  edu- 
cation, government  or  religion.  They  also 
profoundly  affect  the  life  of  the  individual 
himself.  Any  theory  which  belittles  the  in- 
dividual as  a  social  cause  weakens  his  effort 
and  lowers  his  efficiency.  If  men  believe 
themselves  insignificant,  they  will  abandon 
their  ideals.  If  they  think  themselves  power- 
less, they  will  lose  heart.  Whatever  on  the 
contrary  tends  to  restore  faith  in  the  ability 
of  the  individual  to  initiate  social  move- 
ments or  to  make  use  of  them  for  the  progress 
of  the  world,  has  practical  value.  It  en- 
courages those  endeavors  upon  which  the 
advancement  of  the  race  depends. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM. 

We  may  define  a  system  as  an  organiza- 
tion of  closely  related  elements,  working  in 
harmony,  and  guided  by  a  common  law. 
When  we  speak  of  a  railroad  system  there 
arises  before  our  minds  the  well -articulated 
parts  of  a  widely  extended  network  of  roads. 
When  we  refer  to  a  political  system  we  think 
of  the  closely  connected  departments  of  an 
efficient  government.  The  parts  of  such  a 
system  are  not  independent;  rather  each  fits 
in  with  every  other  like  the  parts  of  a  skill- 
fully   constructed    machine. 

In  like  manner  when  we  speak  of  the  social 
system  we  imply  that  men  are  so  influenced 
by  a  common  instinct  or  law,  and  their  in- 
terests are  so  bound  together,  that  they  share 
one  common  human  life.  There  is  such  a 
common  instinct  and  it  needs  little  study 
of  social  psychology  to  show  that  the  indi- 
vidual was  not  intended  to  live  alone.  So- 
ciality is  a  quality  of  all  sentient  life.     To- 

5 


6  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

gether  animals  seek  their  common  interests. 
Fishes  swim  in  schools,  ants  and  bees  form 
colonies,  birds  flock  together,  cattle  range  in 
herds,  beavers  work  in  groups.  In  a  like 
manner  man  is  conscious  of  his  social  nature 
and  is  gregarious. 

(  The  sociality  of  human  beings  is  of  a  higher 
grade  than  that  of  the  brutes.  The  human 
clan  is  far  above  the  ant  colony.  Man  is 
built  for  the  heights  and  as  he  moves  upward 
he  carries  with  him  all  previous  acquisitions 
of  lower  animal  types,  and  of  incipient  hu- 
manity. All  share  in  the  achievement  of  the 
one.  ^)  The  individual  can  never  consider 
his  own  interests  alone.  In  his  simplest 
operations  he  affects  his  fellows.  (History  is 
a  story  of  the  improvement  of  weapons  and 
utensils,  originated  by  one  but  extending  to 
all;  of  a  larger  recognition  of  the  rights  of 
the  group,  then  of  other  tribes  and  peoples; 
of  better  government,  better  education  and 
better  institutions  for  the  pursuit  of  moral 
and  religious  ideals  for  the  benefit  of  the 
many  'ip.nd  not  solely  for  the  one. 

^he  bond  of  unity  becomes  closer  and  more 
all-embracing  as  men  rise  in  the  scale  of  civili- 
zation. Among  savages  the  family  and  tribal 
bond  is  strong,  but  the  social  sphere  is  narrow. 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  7 

The  tribal  oneness  is  restricted  to  such  com- 
mon interests  as  cooperation  in  the  hunt, 
union  for  attack  and  defence,  communal 
dwellings  and  a  common  object  of  worship. 
There  is  no  broad  mental  outlook,  and  hence 
there  are  no  broad  social  sympathies.  Dis- 
trust and  hostility  are  the  rule  between  tribe 
and  tribe.  /  Increase  of  civilization  tends  to 
create  larger  industrial  and  trade  relations, 
to  bring  wider  territory  under  a  common  law, 
to  create  the  fine  arts  and  to  promote  an  inter- 
change of  religious  and  cultural  ideas.  These 
advantages  are  first  felt  by  the  few  but  civili- 
zation in  time  improves  the  lot  of  the  many. 
Thus  out  of  a  common  social  life  with  its 
constant  interplay  of  activity  and  constant 
interchange  of  thought  between  each  and 
all  comes  progress. 

A  faulty  historical  philosophy,  due  to  a 
lack  of  understanding  of  the  evolutionary 
processes  of  social  advance,  has  maintained 
that  society  was  a  human  invention,  that  at 
sometime  in  the  distant  past  there  was  a 
formal  contract  among  men  by  which  they 
agreed  to  live  together  with  consideration 
for  each  other's  needs.  The  modern  emphasis 
upon  tlie  individual  fostered  this  theory.  It 
was  the  ])rinci]ile  of  the  English   revolution 


8     EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  1688;  it  was  the  formula  of  Rousseau  in 
the  days  of  the  French  revolutionary  philoso- 
phy. A  truer  conception  of  human  progress 
has  revealed  the  fallacy  of  such  a  theory, 
and  it  is  agreed  today  that  the  common  life 
is  of  the  essence  of  humanity,  and  that  as  it 
is  inwrought  into  the  fibre  of  man's  nature 
so  it  must  be  wrought  out  to  ever  greater 
perfection  until  the  universal  harmony  is 
complete. 

A  study  of  the  actual  workings  of  society 
makes  very  plain  the  dependent  relation  of 
each  and  all.  The  individual  is  helpless  with- 
out the  well-knit  whole.  Each  man  needs 
all  men  for  mutual  help,  for  companionship 
and  for  guidance. 

The  individual  needs  society  first  for  eco- 
nomic purposes.  He  is  not  economically 
self-sufficient.  He  is  dependent  upon  others 
for  his  food  supplies,  for  clothing  and  for 
shelter.  There  is  a  vast  mechanism  for  the 
production,  transportation  and  exchange  of 
the  necessities  of  life  which  the  individual 
has  not  built  up  but  finds  ready  to  hand. 
And  the  higher  the  stage  of  civilization,  the 
greater  is  the  individual's  economic  depend- 
ence; for  there  is  more  division  of  labor  and 
farther   transportation    of   goods,    and    more 


THE   SOCIAL  SYSTEM  q 

things  are  exchanged.  Each  meml)er  of  so- 
ciety profits  by  the  sj^ccial  talents  of  the  rest. 
He  is  fed  by  exj^crt  agriculturists  and  trades- 
men, housed,  clothed  and  accommodated  with 
every  convenience  and  luxury  by  expert 
artisans  and  manufacturers,  protected  by 
expert  soldiers  and  governed  by  expert  men 
of  affairs. 

Again  the  individual  needs  society  for 
companionship.  Besides  exchanging  prod- 
ucts men  must  exchange  expenences  and 
ideas.  The  himter  delights  to  relate  to  his 
comrades  the  story  of  the  woods ;  the  scientist 
reciprocates  the  enthusiasm  of  his  colleague 
in  the  laboratory.  The  heart  seeks  a  re- 
sponse to  its  outgoing  affections;  the  moral 
nature  needs  standards  of  social  and  moral 
attainment  such  as  are  furnished  by  those 
who  have  already  attained;  the  soul  longs 
for  fellowship  in  its  struggle  upward  towards 
a  higher  and  nobler  life. 

Sometimes  the  stimulus  comes  from  the 
clashing  of  ojMuion.  In  tlie  licrmit's  cell  the 
individual's  mind  becomes  warped;  if  he  is 
summoned  to  defend  his  theories  in  the 
market-place  his  wits  are  sharpened  and  his 
ideas  corrected.  History  reveals  many  a 
bloody    arena    of   politics    and    religion,    l)ut 


lo  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

through  the  conflicts  there  have  come  clearer 
thought  and  broader  sympathy  and  larger 
life. 

Once  more  the  individual  needs  society 
for  restraint  and  guidance.  Tribal  custom 
and  national  law  must  keep  down  the  brute 
nature  of  the  individual.  Education  must 
find  avenues  to  his  dormant  soul,  reveal  to 
him  fields  of  opportunity  and  unfold  the 
latent  possibilities  within  him.  He  should 
remember  that  apostles  and  saints,  heroes 
and  martyrs,  thinkers  and  inventors,  preachers 
and  teachers,  and  a  noble  army  of  laborers 
in  every  field  have  given  their  lives  to  make 
him  possible.  Realizing  this  he  will  become 
so  sensitive  to  the  social  consciousness  and 
so  responsive  to  the  best  public  opinion  of 
his  time  that  he  will  attain  to  ideals  of  citizen- 
ship and  know  in  himself  the  meaning  of 
brotherhood. 

But  this  is  only  part  of  the  truth.  The 
individual  man  needs  his  fellows,  but  they 
need  him  also,  for  initiative,  for  leadership 
;  and  for  noble  example. 

First  of  all,  society  needs  the  individual 
for  initiative.  The  social  group  is  bound  to- 
gether by  tradition,  custom  and  social  forms. 
These  tend  to  monotony  and  stagnation,  and 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  ii 

work  against  progress.  Some  one  must  break 
through  tradition  and  custom,  must  suggest 
improvements  and  clear  away  the  rubbish 
that  blocks  the  way  onward.  The  com- 
munity as  a  whole  is  conservative.  Thought 
must  become  differentiated.  So  it  has  been 
in  history.  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator 
changed  the  currents  of  trade  in  Europe 
because  he  believed  in  a  better  way,  and 
urged  and  assisted  Portuguese  seamen  to 
creep  farther  and  farther  down  the  unknown 
African  coast  till  a  better  route  was  found 
to  the  Indies.  The  new  w^aterway  thus 
opened  up  revolutionized  European  commerce 
and  led  the  Dutch,  the  French  and  the  English 
in  turn  to  emulate  Portugal  in  founding 
eastern    empires. 

Everywhere  the  importance  of  individual 
initiative  appears.  Even  the  terms,  "  sci- 
ence," "art,"  "music,"  mean  the  ideas  of 
individual  scientists,  artists  and  musicians. 
Geometry  means  Euclid.  The  higher  mathe- 
matics means  Descartes,  Newton,  Leibnitz, 
not  to  mention  modern  names.  Astronomy 
means  Copernicus,  Kepler,  Galileo,  or  what- 
ever other  leaders  may  be  suggested.  Music 
means  Handel,  Bach,  Beethoven  and  their 
fellows.     Science    means    Faraday,    Maxwell, 


12  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Thomson,  Helmholtz,  Virchow,  Kirchoff  and 
the  rest  of  the  noble  company.  Philosophy 
means  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  Descartes  and 
Kant  and  Hegel.  Knowledge  is  advanced 
:^ot  by  copying  and  reiterating,  but  through 
investigation  carried  on  by  individuals,  gen- 
erally by  exceptional  individuals.  There  is 
no  art,  no  literature,  except  where  there  are 
self-expression,  consulting  of  the  inner  oracle 
and  resolute  insensibility  to  the  clamors  of 
the   crowd. 

Again  society  needs  the  individual  for  leader- 
ship as  well  as  for  initiation.  The  lowest 
band  of  savages  must  choose  some  one  to 
lead  them.  No  industrial  enterprise  ever 
succeeded  without  a  director;  no  campaign 
was  ever  won  without  competent  officers; 
no  state  can  hold  together  without  obedience 
to  authority.  There  must  be  not  only  the 
impulse  of  initiation  but  sustained  leader- 
ship also.  Any  irresponsible  enthusiast  might 
propose  a  Suez  Canal,  but  it  took  the  capable 
leadership  of  DeLesseps  to  accomplish  its 
construction.  Moral  reform  in  business  and 
politics  was  in  the  air  in  the  early  years  of 
the  twentieth  century,  but  it  took  on  irre- 
sistable  force  when  it  was  championed  by 
the  National  Administration.     The  leader  has 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  13 

enabled  society  to  make  constant  progress 
in  material  things,  to  maintain  itself  in  ever 
larger  aggregates,  to  arrest  internal  discords 
and  foreign  assaults,  and  to  work  out  im- 
proved forms  of  political  and  social  life  with- 
out perishing  in  the  process.  Captains  and 
standard-bearers  have  been  necessary  in  every 
field  of  human  activity. 

Yet  again  society  needs  the  individual  to 
embody  its  ideals  and  to  be  its  pattern. 
The  few  see  visions  and  blaze  the  way  to 
their  realization.  In  themselves  they  estab- 
lish social  criteria.  Charles  Kingsley  said 
that  it  mattered  little  what  might  be  the 
fortune  of  the  plans  of  Maurice  and  himself, 
but  that  if  they  two  could  set  the  social 
pattern  of  their  time,  men  would  be  better 
for  their  having  lived.  In  science,  philoso- 
phy, art  and  morals,  the  standard  by  which 
society  measures  itself  is  exhibited  by  a  few 
great  men.  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  so  charmed 
the  mediaeval  imagination  by  his  gentle  and 
devoted  character,  that  he  became  to  many 
an  ideal  for  both  art  and  for  conduct.  Some- 
where in  the  remote  age  when  history  be- 
comes dim  in  the  midst  of  legend,  lived  King 
Arthur  the  perfect  Knight.  From  then  until 
the  present  his  ideal  of  gentle  manliood,  has 


14  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

hovered  not  only  before  the  Table  Round, 
but  also  before  all  men  who  would  do  deeds 
of  chivalrous  courtesy.  By  such  influences 
as  these  society  advances  toward  perfection. 

So  intimate  and  vital  is  the  relation  be- 
tween the  individual  and  society  that  society 
has  been  likened  to  an  organism,  of  which 
the  individuals  are  members.  The  analogy 
is  not  quite  perfect,  for  there  are  profound 
differences  between  society  and  an  organism 
in  the  literal  sense.  In  society  each  member 
has  its  own  life  and  consciousness;  and  the 
bond  that  unites  them  is  spiritual,  not  phys- 
ical. Yet  it  is  a  useful  and  illuminative 
analogy,  for  there  are  three  fundamental 
characteristics  in  the  life  of  an  organism 
which  hold  true  also  of  the  social  system: 
inner-purpose,  inner-control,  and  inner- 
growth.* 

By  inner-purpose  we  mean  that  the  organ- 
ism has  its  end,  or  the  purpose  of  its  being, 
in  its  own  life.  The  purpose  is  not  external, 
as  in  the  case  of  a  machine  which  produces 
things  that  have  no  vital  relation  to  itself. 
The  shoes  or  tacks  or  lasts,  that  a  machine 
turns  out  are  nothing  to  the  machine,  and 

♦Compare  Mackenzie,  "Introduction  to  Social  Philoso- 
phy,"  Chap.  III. 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  15 

it  is  nothin«ij  to  them.  But  an  organism 
exists  for  itself,  and  its  activities  are  directed 
to  realizing  its  own  |)ro])er  nature.  Thus 
the  oak  in  every  stage  of  its  growth  from 
the  acorn  gradually  realizes  the  law  of  its 
existence.  This  law  implies  nothing  but  the 
perfection  of  the  tree.  To  be  sure,  oaks 
may  be  included  in  a  higher  purpose  which 
has  for  its  end  the  fitting  up  of  a  world  for 
human  development;  but  nevertheless  the 
whole  duty  of  an  oak  is  to  be  an  oak  and 
all  the  uses  to  which  it  may  be  put  are  acci- 
dents, so  far  as  the  oak  itself  is  concerned. 
Society  also  has  its  end  wdthin  itself.  The 
perfection  of  a  community  of  moral  beings, 
realizing  their  spiritual  capacities  to  the 
highest,  is  the  supreme  end  of  social  effort. 
Society  seeks  to  develop  the  resources  of  its 
individual  members  through  the  training  of 
the  school-room,  through  the  activities  of 
business  life  and  through  the  deliberations 
of  council  halls.  It  seeks  to  minister  to 
higher  needs  by  its  encouragement  of  the 
study  of  nature  and  art,  and  by  its  institu- 
tions for  ethical  and  religious  culture.  By 
the  improvement  of  its  individual  members 
society   improves   itself. 


i6  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

A  further  characteristic  of  an  orangism  is 
inner-control.  By  that  we  mean  that  pro- 
vision is  made  within  every  organism  for  the 
regulation  of  its  activities,  in  accordance  with 
its  inner  purpose.  In  the  higher  forms  of 
life  this  controlling  power  is  centralized  in 
the  brain  which  sends  out  its  orders  to  control 
and  direct  the  movements  of  nerves  and 
muscles.  In  this  way  it  regulates  the  activi- 
ties of  all  the  parts  in  the  interest  of  the  whole 
organism. 

The  inner-control  of  society  is  by  no  means 
so  simple  and  single  as  that  of  a  physical 
organism.  Still  the  analogy  is  suggestive. 
Society  has  its  center  of  control  in  govern- 
ment. The  function  of  government  is  to 
insist  that  the  behavior  of  each  member  of 
the  community  shall  contribute  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  whole,  and  to  regulate  the 
separate  activities  for  the  common  advantage. 
These  ends  are  achieved  by  distributing  its 
authority  to  military,  judicial,  legiwslative, 
executive  and  other  branches.  And  yet  al- 
though government  is  the  strongest  con- 
trolling force  in  society,  it  is  not  the  only  one. 
The  church,  by  its  moral  appeal  to  conscience 
and  the  will  of  God;  humanitarian  organi- 
zations, by  their  appeal  to  enlightened  sym- 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  17 

pathy;  intellectual  and  aesthetic  groups,  by 
their  appeal  to  standards  of  truth  and  beauty 
revealed  by  the  master  minds  and  embodied 
by  the  great  artists;  and  most  of  all,  custom 
and  public  opinion  have  also  their  influence 
and  combine  to  rule  the  members  of  society 
for  their  own  good  and  for  the  welfare  of  the 
whole.  Thus  society  has  its  own  controlling 
forces    within    itself. 

Further  still  an  organism  has  inner-growth. 
It  does  not,  like  a  crystal,  grow  by  mere  accre- 
tion. The  materials  for  growth  come  in- 
deed from  without,  but  the  power  of  growth 
is  within  the  organism  which  transmutes 
these  materials  into  its  own  life.  The  acorn 
becomes  the  oak  by  assimilating  what  it 
takes  out  of  the  earth  and  the  air.  In  much 
the  same  way  society  transmutes  to  its  own 
likeness  the  raw  materials  that  it  receives 
from  different  sources.  It  must  change  and 
adapt  to  its  own  purposes  the  individuals 
who  are  to  compose  it.  It  must  assimilate 
each  new^  generation  and  every  shipload  of 
immigrants.  This  it  does  through  community 
of  interest,  through  law,  education,  inter- 
marriage and  the  irresistible  power  of  social 
suggestion.  If  this  increase  of  population 
is  to  strengthen  the  nation  and  not  to  weaken 


1 8  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

it,  the  immigrants  must  blend  with  the  na- 
tion, conform  to  its  customs,  obey  its  laws 
and  assume  the  responsibilities  it  imposes. 

But  here  again  we  must  observe  that  the 
organic  nature  of  society  presupposes  the 
individual  and  rests  on  his  activity.  We 
have  seen  that  the  social  organism  has  its 
purpose  within;  namely,  to  develop  into  the 
best  possible  society.  Now  the  best  society 
is  obviously  that  which  contains  a  number 
of  individuals  who  realize  the  highest  types 
of  life  that  social  circumstances  permit. 
Each  individual  is  under  obligation  to  per- 
form his  duty  towards  God,  to  set  a  good 
example  to  others,  and  to  use  his  powers  in 
helping  his  fellows  directly  or  in  the  improve- 
ment of  general  conditions.  |  In  thus  fulfill- 
ing the  inner  purpose  of  society,  he  contrib- 
utes to  its  growth  in  that  combination  of 
power  and  of  spirit  which  we  term  civiliza- 
tion.! So  also  with  the  inner  control  of  so- 
ciety. '/The  individual  is  at  once  controller 
and  controlled,  and  in  both  capacities  he 
furthers  the  progress  of  civilization./  The 
humblest  has  some  power  of  guiding  the 
action  of  his  associates  and  curbing  their 
passions,  as  well  as  of  mastering  his  own 
impulses.     The  leaders  exercise  most  control 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  19 

over  others,  and  have  a  corresiiondinj^ly 
greater  duty  toward  themselves.  In  ])ro])Or- 
tion  as  society  is  thus  controlled  it  is  civilized. 
And  the  process  of  inner  j^rowth  Ijy  assimila- 
tion is  likewise  dependent  ui)on  individual 
activity.  The  ])arent  trains  his  children  so 
that  they  accord  with  the  social  type  of  the 
community;  the  teacher  brings  his  pupils 
into  harmony  with  the  intellectual  type 
determined  by  the  culture  of  his  time;  the 
minister  moulds  the  ideas  of  his  church  to 
the  religious  thought  of  his  generation;  the 
political  manager  instructs  his  followers  in 
current  questions  of  government.  Every 
workman  has  an  immense  silent  influence 
in  changing  his  foreign  companions  into  the 
national  type.  The  child  of  alien  parents, 
under  the  influence  of  his  schoolmates,  soon 
becomes  an  eager  native  in  feeling.  Such 
assimilation  is  civilization  in  the  truest  sense. 
Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  organic 
structure  of  the  social  system  with  special 
reference  to  the  inter-dependence  of  society 
and  the  individual.  Now  the  same  principle 
and  the  same  needs  which  have  united  men 
in  the  great  social  and  governmental  fonns, 
have  also  produced  a  variety  of  other  groups 
which   are  of  vast  importance   for  both   the 


20  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

individual  and  the  community.  Some  of 
these  grow  spontaneously  out  of  human 
conditions.  Such  are  the  family,  the  school, 
the  neighborhood,  the  citizen  group,  the 
church.  Others,  such  as  schools  of  thought, 
of  philanthropy  or  of  art,  social  clubs,  scientific 
associations  and  the  like  spring  from  more 
definite  reflection  and  more  deliberate  choice. 
But  all  of  these  groups  serve  to  bring  men 
into  more  intimate  relations  and  to  make 
life  richer.  To  illustrate  our  discussion,  we 
may  select  from  the  multitude  of  these  lesser 
groups  the  four  most  vital  to  modern  civili- 
zation: the  economic,  the  intellectual,  the 
moral  and  the  religious. 

The  remarkable  advance  of  the  last  few 
generations  in  agriculture,  manufactures,  com- 
merce and  artisanship,  has  necessarily  re- 
sulted in  a  great  increase  in  the  number, 
range  and  strength  of  economic  groupings. 
The  members  of  the  vast  departments  of 
trade,  transportation  and  manufacture  are 
linked  together  by  common  interests,  capac- 
ities and  experiences.  Many  of  these  eco- 
nomic groups  publish  their  own  trade  journals, 
conduct  bureaus  of  information  and  employ- 
ment, form  benefit  societies  and  organize 
insurance    enterprises.       Chambers    of    com- 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEAf  21 

merce,  boards  of  trade,  clearing-houses  and 
exchanges  are  further  examples  of  this  tend- 
ency. 

The  same  economic  development  has  given 
rise  to  labor  organizations.  The  mediaeval 
guilds  proposed  "to  get  full  good  of  special 
skill,  to  preserve  trade  secrets,  and  to  prevent 
intrusion  of  the  incompetent."  They  did 
much  to  develop  skilled  workmanship,  to 
prevent  distress  and  to  steady  business. 
While  they  lasted,  probably  no  other  single 
bond  except  the  family  was  so  strong.  With 
the  coming  of  the  era  of  capital  and  the 
consequent  separation  of  the  employer  and 
the  employee,  the  guilds  passed  away  and 
labor  unions  took  their  place.  The  unity 
of  interest  and  feeling  among  workmen  in  any 
occupation  is  inevitable  and  proper.  Through 
his  labor  organization,  the  wage-earner  has 
become  a  factor  of  both  economic  and  social 
importance.  In  many  quarters  he  is  able 
not  only  to  dictate  terms  to  his  employer, 
but  also  to  carry  elections  and  initiate  social 
changes.  Trades-unionism  has  already  de- 
veloped a  large  body  of  intelligent  and  self- 
respecting  men,  whose  general  social  fitness 
is    steadily    advancing. 


22  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

In  the  intellectual  and  esthetic  group  the 
bond  is  of  greater  strength  than  in  the  eco- 
nomic, since  it  is  derived  from  a  higher  faculty 
of  our  nature.  In  spite  of  the  differences 
of  race  and  institutions  men  feel  themselves 
drawn  together  by  a  common  interest.  They 
form  associations  for  the  enrichment  of  science 
by  cooperative  endeavor,  and  those  who  agree 
in  the  principles  of  art  make  up  the  various 
schools  with  which  students  of  the  beautiful 
are  familiar.  The  added  intensity  which 
comes  from  this  concentrated  effort  and 
affection  results  in  greater  achievement  and 
a  correspondingly  greater  uplift  of  society 
as  a  whole. 

Stronger  still  are  the  ties  that  bind  to- 
gether the  members  of  the  moral  group,  for 
economic  needs,  intellectual  interests  and 
aesthetic  taste,  must  give  place  to  the  demands 
of  conscience.  One  of  the  most  significant 
tendencies  of  recent  times  is  the  extension 
of  active  benevolence  from  small  bands  of 
charitable  persons  to  the  general  community. 
The  ideal  duty  to  the  race  as  a  whole,  which 
has  long  dominated  the  noblest  souls,  has 
become  an  active  force  in  education,  and 
to  an  ever  increasing  extent  in  government. 
It  has  created  a  new  atmosphere  in  society 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  23 

and  changed  tlie  diplomacy  of  the  world. 
Social  service  is  now  reco^^nized  as  a  voca- 
tion. Many  devote  their  lives  to  improving 
the  condition  of  their  fellows.  Men  and 
women  are  organized  to  give  sight  to  the  blind, 
speech  to  the  dumb,  training  to  the  waifs, 
better  housing  to  the  poor.  They  combine 
to  relieve  the  overburdened,  to  protect  the 
weak  and  to  reclaim  the  erring.  Associated 
charities,  social  settlements,  peace  societies, 
the  Red  Cross  League, — these  and  similar 
groups  work  together  as  a  general  reforming 
and  uplifting  force,  tending  more  and  more 
to  make  men  feel  that  their  first  duty  is  to 
mankind. 

The  religious  group  takes  precedence  of 
all  others,  for  the  bond  which  unites  it  takes 
hold  upon  the  inner  life.  Religion  governs 
the  affections,  the  mind  and  the  will.  It 
establishes  a  kinship  of  soul,  as  lasting  as 
it  is  profound, — a  kinship  which  persecution 
has  merely  proved  to  be  indestructible. 
Christ  himself  taught  that  the  claims  of 
religion  are  superior  even  to  the  ties  of  family. 
And  countless  believers,  of  all  creeds  and 
in  every  age,  have  cheerfully  left  home 
and  country  and  have  endured  untold  hard- 
ships and   perils,   to  follow  its  dictates. 


24  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

The  religious  group  has  not  only  experienced 
the  great  uplift  of  its  faith,  but  it  has  also 
benefited  by  the  social  inheritance  which 
religion  brings  with  it.  .  When  in  the  Middle 
Ages  the  barbarians  were  compelled  by  force 
to  accept  Christianity,  they  were  at  once 
enabled  to  enrich  their  lives  with  the  whole 
heritage  of  European  culture.  They  became 
the  heirs  of  Homer  and  Plato,  of  Virgil  and 
the  Romah  law, — in  short  they  entered  into 
possession  of  all  that  we  owe  to  classic  times. 

The  religious  group  includes  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men.  The  bond  which  joins 
its  members  can  make  strong  political  and 
social  units  of  people  who  would  otherwise 
remain  scattered  and  weak.  Belief  in  the 
mission  and  teachings  of  Mohammed  united 
the  shifting  tribes  of  the  Arabian  desert  into 
a  formidable  force  which  founded  four  cali- 
phates. Christianity  thus  challenged  showed 
its  cohesive  power  by  sending,  in  crusades 
against  the  Moslems,  the  nations  of  western 
Europe  hitherto  engaged  in  warfare  with 
one  another.  The  religious  bond  is  the  most 
nearly  universal,  because  the  interest  in  the 
divine  is  the  only  interest  that  is  common 
to  every  race. 


THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  25 

We  have  now  defined  the  social  system 
and  have  studied  in  outline  its  relation  to 
the  individual  and  the  groups  which  compose 
it.  In  conclusion  we  should  bear  in  mind 
as  the  point  to  be  emphasized,  that  jthe  social 
order/  .which  we  have  inherited  from  past 
ages  'does  not  exist  for  itself  but  for  the  up- 
building and  enlargement  of  the  individual. 
In  so  far  as  it  helps  us  we  conserv^e  it;  when 
it  hinders,  we  modify  it;  but  in  its  ideals, 
and  mainly  also  in  its  actuality,  the  social 
order  is  the  instrument  whereby  civilization 
is  realized  and  the  individual  is  developed 
into  a  truly  human  being.  Within  the  sys- 
tem, "We  are  members  one  of  another." 
Each  needs  all,  and  all  need  each  for  the 
perfection  of  life  and  the  progress  of  society. 


CHAPTER  II. 
INDIVIDUAL  INITIATIVE. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen 
that  the  structure  of  society  is  such  as  to 
provide  a  broad  basis  for  the  individual's 
action,  and  to  make  his  influence  both  definite 
and  far-reaching.  In  particular,  we  have 
seen  that  social  progress  of  all  kinds  goes 
back  to  the  individual  and  begins  with  him. 
We  must  now  consider  this  fact  in  some 
detail.  Thus  the  importance  of  the  indi- 
vidual, which  has  been  obscured  by  a  mechan- 
ical philosophy,  will  be  set  in  a  clearer  light. 

With  respect  to  the  individual's  relation 
to  the  natural  forces  that  loom  so  large  in 
the  popular  mind,  his  subordination  to  them 
is  no  more  manifest  than  their  subordina- 
tion to  him.  Here  the  significance  of  man 
as  initiator  comes  out  in  a  striking  manner. 
When  we  visit  a  great  mill  or  factory,  our 
first  impression  is  of  the  immense  forces 
which  are  in  action.  They  dwarf  us  in  our 
own  estimation,  and  for  the  moment  we 
26 


INDIVIDUAL  !X/I/.\I/\'E  27 

feel  that  we  have  no  control  over  them. 
But  when  we  reflect  on  the  steps  by  which 
these  very  machines  have  been  perfected 
and  remember  that  behind  every  stage  in 
their  growth  lay  the  thought  of  a  man  and 
the  work  of  a  man,  we  realize  that  whatever 
dignity  they  may  have,  man  has  given  to 
them.  They  are  nothing  in  themselves.  The 
millions  of  iron  slaves  which  separate  and 
combine  raw  materials,  which  spin  and  weave 
and  sew  for  us,  which  in  short  work  the 
miracles  of  our  times,  were  at  first  but  ideas 
in  the  brain  of  the  inventor.  The  most 
powerful  and  marvelous  of  them  were  once 
mere  lines  on  paper  and  even  when  finally 
constructed,  they  were  only  dead  matter 
until  the  brain  of  an  engineer  set  them  throb- 
bing with  water  or  steam  or  electric  power. 
And  in  general,  the  forces  of  nature  every- 
where are  waiting  to  serve  us  when  man  the 
initiator  arises.  Like  the  genius  of  the  magic 
lamp,  they  are  at  our  service  when  we  speak 
the    word. 

If  we  look  for  the  relation  of  the  individual 
to  the  great  social  mass,  history  shows  that 
progress  is  through  individual  initiative. 
New  truth  is  not  revealed  to  all  men  at  once; 
it  begins  in  the  thought  of  the  gifted  indi- 


2  8  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

vidual.  At  first  it  is  decried  as  a  heresy, 
social  or  religious,  but  it  wins  its  way,  until 
it  is  merged  in  the  custom  and  tradition  of 
mankind.  Society  enters  into  what  the  in- 
dividual discovers,  invents,  creates.  When 
there  is  no  vision  on  the  part  of  leaders  the 
people  perish,  or  at  best  they  wander  in  the 
wilderness,  unable  to  reach  the  promised 
land.  Even  democracy  is  fast  learning  this 
lesson,  as  appears  in  the  growing  tendency 
to  concentrate  power  and  responsibility  in 
a  few  hands,  and  often  in  a  single  individual. 
Only  the  man  of  insight  and  energy  is  capable 
of  so  uniting  and  directing  social  forces  as  to 
secure  the  best  results.  A  mob  of  small 
men,  however  good  their  intentions,  can  only 
blunder  and  waste.  Carlyle  may  have  over- 
done his  worship  of  the  great  man,  but  it  is 
certain  that  some  Moses  must  arise  when 
any  Israel  is  to  be  led  out  of  its  Egypt. 

We  shall  now  attempt  to  classify  the 
varieties  of  individual  initiative,  basing  our 
classification  upon  the  particular  faculty  in- 
volved in  each.  This  treatment  will  serve 
a  double  puipose, — it  will  analyze  the  sources 
of  initiative  in  the  individual  life,  and  it  will 
also  bring  out  clearly  the  significance  of  the 
individual  as  the  initiator. 


ixnivini-AL  iMiTiMivi':  29 

We  note  at  the  outset  that  what  we  eall 
chance  has  played  a  considerable  role  in 
initiating  new  departures.  Chance  often  gives 
the  hint  or  points  the  way.  An  individual 
bent  u])on  one  thing,  sometimes  hits  upon 
another.  Marshall,  when  by  mere  accident 
he  found  gold  in  the  fUniie  of  vSutter's  saw- 
mill, in  1849,  initiated  the  settlement  of 
California  and  introduced  a  new  cha])ter  into 
the  monetary  history  of  the  world.  The 
Portuguese  navigator,  Cabral,  driven  by  ad- 
verse winds  from  his  course,  discovered  by 
accident  the  coast  of  Brazil  and  determined 
the  colonization  and  history  of  the  largest 
South  American  state.  The  chance  occur- 
rence of  a  Tartar  war  in  the  Crimea  drove 
two  Venetian  merchants  as  far  as  China. 
Marco  Polo  accompanied  them  on  a  second 
voyage,  and  on  his  return  immensely  widened 
the  geographical  horizon  of  the  West,  and 
gave  it  its  first  knowledge  of  coal  as  a  fuel, 
and  of  paper  currency.  Bessemer,  experi- 
menting in  the  manufacture  of  steel,  by  chance 
let  a  current  of  air  play  upon  the  heated 
mass  of  iron.  To  his  surprise  the  surface 
was  entirely  decarbonized  and  a  process  sug- 
gested which  the  Hon.  A.  S.  Hewitt  estimates 
has    saved    this    country    a    billion    dollars 


30  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

annually.  This  means  a  contribution  to  the 
wealth  of  the  world  of  an  amount  greater 
than  its  estimated  valuation  fifteen  years 
before    Bessemer's    birth. 

The  importance  of  accident  is  seen  also 
in  social  contact.  A  chance  utterance,  a 
casvial  meeting,  a  book  picked  up  at  random, 
has  often  made  a  turning-point  in  a  man's 
career,  determining  not  only  the  plan  of  his 
action,  and  the  momentum  which  he  has 
brought  to  it,  but  also  its  success  or  failure. 
A  text-book  picked  up  by  Flamsted,  a  school 
boy  in  the  languor  of  sickness,  turned  him 
into  a  great  astronomer.  A  ticket  to  a 
lecture  made  bookbinder  Faraday  the  pioneer 
of  electrical  science.  A  gunshot  wound  led 
Loyola  to  found  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The 
chance  sight  of  fair-haired  Anglican  slaves 
in  the  Roman  streets  is  said  to  have  sug- 
gested to  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  the  con- 
version of  Britain,  whereupon  he  sent  Augus- 
tine on  the  memorable  mission  to  Kent. 

Initiative  may  come  also  from  outer  sug- 
gestion. In  the  majority  of  those  important 
initiations  which  are  due  to  accidental  dis- 
coveries, the  .significant  fact  is  not  so  much 
what  chance  reveals,  as  what  it  suggests  to 
a  mind  capable  of  swift  inference.     In  17 13 


INDIVIIX'M.  IMllAllVE  31 

a  boy,  whose  task  was  to  open  and  shut  two 
sets  of  valves  in  order  to  secure  harmony  of 
action,  noted  the  correlation  of  movements, 
and  stretched  a  cord  from  one  set  to  the  other. 
The  boy's  object  was  to  get  time  for  play, 
but  he  had  in  fact  discovered  and  ap])lied 
the  principle  of  automatic  interaction  in  the 
steam-engine. 

The  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  and  the 
Sjiinning  jenny  illustrates  a  higher  type  of 
originality  which  brings  knowledge  and  skill 
to  make  use  of  the  chance  suggestion.  Leav- 
ing Connecticut  to  take  a  South  Carolina 
school,  Eli  Whitney  chanced  to  board  with 
a  certain  Miss  Green  who  was  interested  in 
discovering  an  economical  way  for  cleaning 
cotton.  One  day  after  some  conversation 
on  the  subject,  Whitney  found  his  mind  in- 
voluntarily reverting  to  it  and  the  idea  of 
a  machine  suggested  itself.  His  gin  soon 
made  cotton  one  of  the  staple  commodities 
of  the  world.  James  Hargreaves,  an  English 
master-weaver,  once  came  suddenly  into  his 
house  and  startled  his  wife,  who  was  at  her 
spinning  Vvhcel.  In  springing  up  she  over- 
turned the  wheel  l^ut  it  ke]:)t  whirling  hori- 
zontally with  its  spindle  upright.  The  idea 
flashed  ui)on  him  of  m.-jking  one  wheel  operate 


32  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

several  spindles,  so  as  to  spin  a  number  of 
threads  at  a  time;  and  of  replacing  the  spin- 
ner's fingers  on  the  threads  by  bars  to  open 
and  shut  upon  it.  The  modern  spinning 
machines  with  their  power  loom,  which  have 
revolutionized  the  cotton  industry,  are  but 
the  perfected  development  of  the  spinning 
wheel. 

Similarly  suggested  was  the  heat  invention 
of  James  Watt.  Employed  as  an  instrument- 
maker  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  he  was 
one  day  sent  to  repair  the  model  of  a  New- 
comer fire  engine.  The  faultiness  of  the  en- 
gine fixed  his  mind  upon  securing  an  economy 
in  the  use  of  steam.  Thereupon  he  con- 
structed the  separate  condenser  and  enun- 
ciated the  principle  which  is  at  the  root  of 
all  engine -building — the  necessity  that  the 
walls  of  the  cylinder  be  kept  at  the  tem- 
perature of  the  steam  which  is  about  to  enter 
it. 

Even  more  momentous  both  practically 
and  scientifically  was  the  discovery  of  the 
Leyden  jar.  Previous  to  1746,  electricity 
had  interested  a  few  men  of  science,  but 
the  impossibility  of  storing  it  had  prevented 
them  from  investigating  its  nature  or  action 
in  any  fruitful  way.     In  that  year  however 


IXDIVIDIJAL  IXrr/AT/VE  33 

certain  persons,  among  them  Cuneus  a  pupil 
of  the  mathematician  Miisschenbroek  of  Ley- 
den,  were  attempting  without  success,  to 
make  a  bottle  of  water  act  as  an  electric 
accumulator,  when  Cuneus  happened  to  grasp 
the  bottle  with  one  hand  as  he  disengaged  it 
from  the  conductor  with  the  other.  In- 
stantly he  received  a  tremendous  shock,  for 
his  body  had  completed  the  circuit.  "It 
was  this  astounding  experiment,"  says  Ca- 
vallo.  "  that  gave  eclat  to  electricity.  Hence- 
forth it  was  the  subject  of  conversation 
throughout  the  city.  Its  study  became  gen- 
eral, and  a  greater  number  of  spectators 
gathered  at  the  house  of  the  electricians  than 
were  ever  before  assembled  to  observe  any 
philosophical   experiments   whatever." 

In  like  manner  the  poet  or  the  musician 
may  see  chance  sights,  or  hear  chance  com- 
binations of  sounds,  which  suggest  to  him 
great  verses  or  melodies.  Chance  combi- 
nations of  colors,  or  groupings  of  oVjjects, 
may  suggest  noble  works  of  art  to  the  painter 
or  the  sculptor.  New  knowledge  is  some- 
times brought  to  light  by  hints  which  have 
stimulated  the  imagination  of  the  observer. 
The  fall  of  an  a]:>ple  revealed  gravitation  to 
Newton,   who  was  the  most  learned  as  well 


34  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

as  the  most  original  mathematician  of  his 
age.  Casual  information  concerning  the  po- 
larization of  light  opened  to  Pasteur  the 
vision  of  a  new  process  for  curing  disease. 
But  it  was  Pasteur's  imaginative  genius, 
working  in  alliance  with  his  previous  acquire- 
ments, that  enabled  him  to  make  this  gigantic 
leap  of  inference  which  few  minds  could 
follow.  Galvani  discovered  the  direct  elec- 
tric current  through  the  twitching  of  a  dead 
frog's  legs.  The  invention  of  the  telephone 
by  Alexander  Graham  Bell  is  a  still  more 
striking  example.  Bell  was  a  teacher  of  the 
deaf  and  had  devoted  much  study  to  the 
mechanism  of  the  ear.  This  suggested  to 
him  that  sound  waves,  with  the  aid  of  electric 
currents,  might  be  transmitted  by  precisely 
similar   mechanism. 

We  have  ascribed  these  initiatives  to 
chance,  but  in  reality  chance  only  supplies 
the  alert  and  gifted  mind  with  its  oppor- 
tunity. Only  a  Faraday  would  be  turned 
into  a  leader  of  science  by  happening  to  at- 
tend a  lecture.  Countless  generations  had 
seen  apples  fall,  but  only  a  Newton  could 
infer  the  law  of  gravitation.  The  chance 
information  which  led  Pasteur  into  his  great 
line   of   investigation   and   discovery,    would 


INDIVinVAL  l\'ITI.\TIVE  35 

have  been  for  others  as  seed  upon  "  stony 
places,  where  there  was  not  much  earth." 
Many  of  Darwin's  facts  had  been  known  for 
centuries  to  farmers  and  breeders,  to  travelers 
and  sportsmen,  but  it  remained  for  him  to 
read  their  meaning  and  to  draw  the  inference 
of  evolution.  The  more  we  investigate  the 
history  of  intellectual  progress,  the  higher 
looms  the  figure  of  the  individual  discoverer. 
But  plan  and  calculation  are  greater  sources 
of  individual  initiative  than  chance  or  outer 
suggestion.  And  while  one  man's  chance 
discovery  may  be  more  important  to  man- 
kind than  another's  calculated  discovery, 
yet  because  the  result  was  due  to  chance, 
the  former  cannot  be  said  to  be  as  great  as 
the  man  whose  intellect  devises  what  no  one 
has  thought  of  before.  We  therefore  pro- 
ceed to  the  more  important  initiatives,  aris- 
ing from  direct  calculation.  The  needs  of 
social  life  are  such,  that  men  have  to  be  con- 
stantly striving  to  meet  them.  Hence  the 
individual  is  ever  initiating  new  plans.  This 
kind  of  initiative  is  seen  in  the  operations  of 
industry,  in  the  scientific  inventions  that  are 
especially  prevalent  in  this  age,  in  the  ap- 
pliance of  education  and  in  the  new  experi- 
ments  in   government.     In   the   field   of  in- 


36  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

vention  only  a  few  of  the  vast  number  of 
important  individual  initiatives  need  be  men- 
tioned. The  invention  of  alphabetic  writing 
is  the  greatest  step  ever  taken  in  the  history 
of  civilization,  and  along  with  it  deserves 
to  be  named  the  Arabic  notation  of  numbers. 
In  the  same  rank  stands  the  invention  of  the 
printing  press  and  of  the  steam  engine.  It 
would  be  hard  indeed  to  calculate  the  social 
importance  of  such  inventions  as  the  loco- 
motive, the  cotton  gin,  the  sewing  machine, 
the  mowing  machine,  the  telegraph,  or  the 
telephone;  or  to  predict  the  results  to  so- 
ciety that  may  come  from  the  electric  or  the 
gas  engine.  Lord  Kelvin  made  the  long- 
distance submarine  telegraph  possible,  and 
also  made  it  safe  to  use  the  compass  on 
vessels  of  iron  and  steel.  To  nullify  his  in- 
ventions would  be  nothing  less  than  a  catas- 
trophe to  civilization. 

In  the  military  world  plan  and  calculation 
have  developed  thoroughly  only  in  the  cen- 
tury just  past.  Von  Moltke's  campaign  of 
1870  is  the  outcome.  Remembering  Napo- 
leon's complaint  that  the  misunderstandings 
of  his  subordinates  had  cost  him  much.  Von 
Moltke  resolved  not  only  upon  the  long  and 
careful  training  of  the  rank  and  file,  but  also 


IS  DIVIDUAL  INITIATIVE  37 

Upon  Special  instruction  for  his  generals.  The 
advance  upon  Paris,  ([uite  as  ably  executed  by 
the  subordinates  as  it  was  planned  by  the 
commander-in-chief,  shows  the  results  of  the 
years  of  preparation  and  marks  an  epoch  in 
the  art  of  war.  The  great  difference  between 
the  fortunes  of  France  at  Austerlitz  and  at 
Sedan  was  the  difference  between  Napoleon 
the  Great  and  Napoleon  the  Third.  Sheridan 
even  more  than  his  men  won  the  day  at 
Winchester.  It  was  Cromwell  who  concjuered 
at  Marston  Moor  and   Naseby. 

In  the  political  world  also  the  im|)ortance 
of  the  individual  who  plans  and  calculates 
is  plain.  Macedonia  was  no  more  populous 
and  had  no  larger  resources  the  day  after 
Philip  ascended  the  throne  than  it  had  be- 
fore; but  as  a  result  of  Philip's  masterful 
grouping  of  the  hill  tribes  into  a  national 
army,  recognized  as  the  Macedonian  phalanx 
and  of  his  skilful  interference  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Greek  cities,  it  rose  from  a  negligible 
barbarian  principality  to  be  mistress  of  the 
Greek  world.  The  age  was  the  same;  Philip 
made  all  the  difference.  For  two  centuries 
the  Franks  had  given  no  sign  of  strong 
vitality  when  the  imposing  figure  of  Charle- 
magne ascended  the  throne.     Soon  conquests 


38  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

from  the  Arno  to  the  Elbe  were  welded  to- 
gether. Soon  Christian  civilization  was  ad- 
vanced into  heathen  Saxony  and  the  fabric 
of  the  mediaeval  empire  was  constituted. 
To  few  personalities  do  so  many  modern 
nations  turn  in  tracing  the  beginnings  of 
their  institutions  and  culture.  After  Charle- 
magne things  tended  to  resume  their  former 
confusion.  It  was  the  great  emperor  who 
had  made  his  age.  Examples  are  countless. 
When  Caesar  crossed  the  Rubicon,  he  changed 
the  destiny  of  Rome;  that  single  choice  gave 
history  a  new  direction.  Frederick  the  Great 
made  Prussia,  though  smaller  men  had  failed. 
Lincoln's  proclamation  of  emancipation  was 
a  political  initiative  of  far-reaching  results. 
And  who  can  measure  the  work  of  Hilde- 
brand,  Luther  and  Calvin,  which  had  quite 
as  much  political  as  religious  significance? 

It  is  upon  this  method  of  calculated  initia- 
tive that  statesmanship  depends.  The  tri- 
umphant career  of  Richelieu  was  due  to  his 
acting  from  the  outset  on  a  clear  well-reasoned 
plan.  He  saw  that  in  order  to  secure  internal 
unity,  the  Huguenot  princes  whose  claims  were 
incompatible  with  governmental  order,  must 
be  crushed;  for  religious  equality  under  the 
conditions    then    existing    in    France    meant 


INDlVinnAL  /.y/T/AT!VE  39 

chronic  civil  war.  But  lie  also  saw  that  a 
regime  of  persecution  would  impoverish  the 
country  and  hence  that  the  Protestants 
must  be  tolerated  though  without  full  recog- 
nition. In  his  foreign  policy,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  cardinal,  he  realized  that 
North  GeiTnany  was  permanently  Protestant, 
and  he  allied  Catholic  France  with  Protestant 
Sweden  against  the  House  of  Austria.  France 
and  the  world  will  never  cease  to  feel  the 
effects  of  Richlieu's  initiative. 

Another  type  of  initiative  is  due  to  what 
may  be  called  inner  suggestion.  Here,  more 
fully  than  in  calculation,  the  mind  itself  is 
the  decisive  factor.  It  does  not  rely  on 
external  means  and  stimulus,  but  draws 
upon  its  own  resources.  To  the  ordinary 
man  experience  suggests  only  commonplace 
associations.  The  original  or  resourceful  man 
analyses  his  experiences,  breaks  them  up  into 
their  elements,  recombines  them  and  fashions 
them  into  new  plans  or  epoch-making  hypo 
theses. 

The  force  of  inner  suggestion  may  be 
illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  explorer.  From 
the  bold  man  who  first  crossed  the  mountain 
range  which  shut  in  his  tribe,  or  the  bolder 
man  who  first  put  to  sea  in  search  of  unknown 


40  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

regions,  to  Columbus  and  Livingstone  and 
Stanley  who  opened  America  and  Africa  to 
the  civilization  of  the  world,  and  to  the 
little  group  who  dare  the  snows  and  ice  in 
their  perilous  search  for  a  passage  by  way 
of  the  North  Pole,  the  history  of  exploration 
is  one  magnificant  story  of  individual  daring 
and  perseverance  in  the  face  of  dull  conser- 
vatism. Even  when  the  task  has  been  ac- 
complished, the  age  has  often  derided  and 
persecuted  the  explorers,  leaving  it  to  pos- 
terity to  do  them  justice.  Yet  without  these 
men  of  daring  initiative,  the  race  would  have 
made  btit  the  scantiest  progress. 

The  same  type  of  initiative  may  be  seen 
in  the  world  of  science.  Here  the  daily  work 
consists  of  experiments  and  calculations,  but 
the  great  hypotheses  which  give  direction 
to  such  work  and  reduce  it  to  its  final  order, 
have  been  the  achievement  of  a  few  minds 
of  highly  original  combining  power.  New- 
ton's law  of  gravitation  was  the  result  of  a 
daring  analogy.  Lyell,  discerning  in  the 
present  climatic  influences  on  the  earth's 
crust,  the  forces  which  operated  in  past  ages, 
changed  the  theory  of  the  earth's  physical 
evolution.  In  like  manner,  Darwin  applied 
the  principles  of  breeding  to  all  organic  life. 


INDIVIDUAL   IXITIATIVE  41 

He  gave  a  new  meaning  to  a  mass  of  patiently 
collected  facts  by  making  a  new  connection 
between  two  different  aspects  of  nature.  No 
more  notable  instance  of  individual  initia- 
tive in  the  realm  of  thought  can  be  found  in 
recent  times.  He  has  often  been  called  the 
"Newton  of  Biology,"  and  the  comparison 
is  just.  To  be  sure,  much  of  his  specific 
teaching  is  obsolete,  but  the  impetus  he  gave 
to  biological  study  makes  the  publication 
of  the  Origin  of  Species  a  memorable  date 
in   the  intellectual   history  of  mankind. 

The  type  of  initiative  which  we  are  now 
studying  is  especially  characteristic  of  the 
philosopher,  whose  problems  take  him  be- 
yond the  range  of  perception  and  practical 
verification,  and  require  him  to  mature  his 
principles  by  the  brooding  of  his  own  thought. 
Plato,  Spinoza  and  Kant  are  intellectual 
leaders,  not  for  anything  they  have  chanced 
upon,  not  for  anything  they  have  scientifically 
calculated,  but  for  what  their  brilliant  and 
profound  minds  have  constructed  by  means 
of  the  philosophic  interpretation  of  human 
experience.  Enlightenment  comes  only 
through  the  individual.  Even  when  the 
growth  of  society  reveals  the  need  of  change 
in  creed  or  custom  or  legislation,  the  gifted 


42  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

individual  is  necessary  to  perceive  and  ex- 
. press  the  need.  "All  that  mass  of  develop- 
|ing  knowledge  and  expanding  ideas,  which 
iforms  not  only  a  part  but  the  basis  of  all 
progressive  civilization,  and  is  commonly 
balled  by  the  general  name  of  enlightenment, 
is  produced  solely  by  the  influence  on  average 
rninds  of  the  minds  that  are  decidedly  ex- 
/ceptional."  These  great  minds  communicate 
their  ideas  and  knowledge  to  the  average 
minds,  and  settle  for  these  what  they  shall 
believe  and  think.  The  ordinary  mind  is 
the  pensioner  of  the  few  minds  that  are  su- 
perior to  it.  The  many  are  powerless  unless 
here  and  there  some  thinker  will  think  for 
them,  and  give  them  opinions  which  may 
form  a  mould  or  nucleus  for  their  own.  Le 
Bon  has  said  that  if  fifty  men  of  distinction 
in  the  varied  life  of  the  French  nation  were 
removed  from  French  history  and  the  results 
of  their  work  were  obliterated,  but  little 
would  be  left  to  France  of  culture  or  civili- 
zation. 

Creative  genius  illustrates  this  type  of 
initiative  in  its  highest  form.  Genius  is 
fed  by  unseen  springs.  Its  thoughts  originate 
in  rich  and  profound  experiences.  Men  of 
creative  power  sound  depths  which  the  con- 


ixnivini'AL  /x/Tf.\T/vf<:  43 

sciousness  of  ordinary  men  £ind  even  tlieir 
own  consciousness  at  ordinary  times,  cannot 
fathom;  thus  they  bring  to  hght  great 
truths  which  have  hitherto  been  hidden. 
They  reveal  to  mankind  the  deeper  tendencies 
of  social  and  s])intual  life.  As  Le  Bon  well 
says,  a  people  is  never  led  save  by  those 
who  embody  its  dreams  and  faiths.  The 
poet  feels  stirring  within  his  soul  the  mighty 
passions  of  the  race,  and  he  gives  them 
articulate  expression.  Such  names  as  Paul, 
Augustine  and  Francis  of  Assisi,  not  to 
mention  "  the  Name  that  is  above  every 
name,"  suggest  to  us  the  profundity  of  re- 
ligious experience  and  its  power  in  human 
history.  So  also  in  the  field  of  religious 
activity  and  organization.  Pope  Gregory  the 
Great,  Luther  and  Calvin,  Dominic  and 
Loyola,  Knox  and  Wesley,  in  the  Christian 
church;  Amos  and  Hosea  among  the  Jews; 
and  Mohammed,  Zoroaster  and  Buddha  in 
the  non-Christian  world  are  illustrations. 
These  men  and  such  as  these  have  governed 
and  directed  the  religious  development  of 
mankind,  and  civilization  would  be  a  very 
different  thing  if  they  had  never  lived. 

Last  of  all  may  be  mentioned  a  class  of 
initiatives   due    to   extraordinary   suggestion. 


44    EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

No  attempt  is  here  made  to  account  for  these 
phenomena.  They  are  noted  merely  as  ob- 
served influences  that  have  often  been  at 
work  in  the  social  system  and  have  some- 
times operated  with  powerful  effect.  Not 
infrequently  (as  in  the  well-known  cases  of 
Condorcet  and  Condillac,  on  their  own  tes- 
timony) the  mind  solves  problems  during 
sleep  which  it  has  been  unable  to  master 
while  awake.  At  other  times  the  mind 
whether  waking  or  sleeping,  seems  to  receive 
impressions,  premonitions  and  presentiments 
from  some  source  that  eludes  analysis.  This 
is  attested  by  the  common  experience  of  man- 
kind. A  vague  sense  of  impending  danger 
has  often  led  to  a  sudden  change  of  plan 
and  thus  to  an  escape  that  has  seemea  mirac- 
ulous. There  are  also  notable  instances  in 
history  which  show  that  great  results  have 
followed  from  such  mysterious  initiatives. 
Xenephon  says  that  it  was  a  dream  which 
inspired  him,  after  the  commanders  of  the 
Ten  Thousand  had  been  treacherously  slain, 
to  take  the  lead  in  extricating  the  Greeks 
from  their  perilous  trap.  It  was  Paul's 
vision  on  the  road  to  Damascus  which  turned 
him  into  the  most  vigorous  of  the  early  mis- 
sionaries  of   the   Christian   church.     On   the 


IXniVinUM.   IMTIATIVE  45 

eve  of  battle,  the  Emperor  Constantine  is 
said  to  have  seen  the  Cross  emblazoned  upon 
the  sky  with  the  inscription  "With  this  sign, 
conquer."  Deeply  moved,  he  vowed  that  if 
he  conquered  he  would  become  a  Christian. 
In  other  cases  the  individual  seems  to  enjoy 
a  mysterious  guidance,  or  to  be  informed  of 
coming  events  through  visions.  This  faculty, 
if  we  may  so  call  it,  has  not  been  confined 
to  superstitious  weaklings.  It  has  dictated 
the  careers  of  some  of  the  greatest  men  and 
women  the  world  has  ever  known.  Augus- 
tine, Mohammed,  Joan  of  Arc,  Swedenborg, 
— all  seem  to  have  had  mental  powers  that 
combined  their  experiences  in  ways  indefin- 
able to  us  and  quite  strange  to  themselves. 
They  firmly  believed  their  visions  to  be  in- 
spired. We  are  not  bound  to  accept  this 
explanation,  but  we  cannot  neglect  such 
phenomena  altogether. 

We  have  now  classified  the  sources  whence 
individual  initiative  proceed.  In  every  case, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  initiator  serves  as  an 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  agencies  greater 
than  himself,  and  sets  in  motion  forces  far 
superior  to  his  own.  The  man  of  original 
genius,  in  the  happy  phrase  of  Professor 
James,    is    a    "releasing"    force.     Such    men 


46  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

are  like  the  spark  that  explodes  a  powder 
magazine;  or  like  the  trigger,  the  linstock, 
or  the  button,  that  causes  a  battery  to  hurl 
death  at  the  foe ;  or  like  the  lever  that  lifts 
the  floodgates  of  the  reservoir  or  of  the  tide. 
They  speak  the  word,  they  utter  the  thought, 
they  do  the  deed,  they  create  the  vision  of 
beauty,  they  incarnate  the  divine  life;  and 
in  so  doing,  they  release  the  pent-up  energies 
of  their  fellow-men,  they  stir  the  soul,  they 
set  on  foot  undying  movements.  In  the 
words  of  the  foremost  genius  in  the  highest 
realms  of  life,  himself  the  greatest  initiator 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  they  make  known 
the  truth  and  the  truth  makes  men  free. 
And  what  is  true  of  the  man  of  genius,  is 
true  of  every  one  in  his  place  and  measure. 
We  all  may  become  servants  and  revealers 
of  the  Highest,  and  by  incarnating  the 
divine  life  make  the  Divine  credible  and  real 
to  men.  Thus  we  may  join  our  initiatives 
to  His,  while  He  works  through  us  all  to  will 
and  to  work  for  His  good  pleasure. 


CHAPTER  III. 
DIFFUSION. 

The  social  order  forms  a  system  in  which 
we  exist,  and  by  which  we  come  to  ourselves 
and  realize  our  plans.  We  are  not  passively 
borne  along,  but  are  active  factors  whose 
influence  may  be  wide-spread.  Some  in- 
dividuals have  great  influence  which  can  be 
traced  afar  off  in  space  and  time,  and  w^hich 
makes  them  marked  figures  in  history;  but 
every  person,  however  insignificant  he  may 
seem,  affects  humanity's  life  and  well-being. 
To  Omniscence  the  universe  contains  an 
autobiography  of  every  soul  that  has  lived. 

But  if  there  is  to  be  any  effective  and  far- 
reaching  influence,  the  nature  of  things  must 
be  such  as  to  provide  for  it  and  make  it  pos- 
sible. The  system  might  have  been  so  ill- 
adjusted  to  human  nature  and  human  needs, 
that  no  large  life  and  no  large  range  of  in- 
fluence would  have  been  possible.  Only  a 
cramped  and  undeveloped  existence  could 
have    resulted    from    such    conditions.     Pro- 

47 


48  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

visions  in  the  nature  of  things  which  make 
for  a  large  effectiveness  may  be  called  the 
mechanism  of  influence.  They  are  not  in- 
fluence, but  they  are  its  conditions.  They 
are  the  general  social  laws  and  facts,  rooted 
in  human  nature,  on  which  the  possibility 
of  influence  depends.  If  it  is  asked  how  they 
come  to  exist,  we  may  take  them  as  facts  of 
which  no  further  account  can  be  given  or  we 
may  view  them  as  a  part  of  the  creative 
legislation  with  which  the  world  was  provided 
in  the  original  constitution  of  man  and  his 
earthly  home. 

The  various  ways  in  which  the  individual 
sends  abroad  his  influence  in  the  social  system 
fall  into  more  or  less  distinct  groups  or  types. 
These  are  not  so  sharply  distinct  as  to  be 
mutually  exclusive  and  yet  are  distinct  enough 
to  furnish  useful  points  of  view  from  which 
to  study  the  problem: — Diffusion,  Succes- 
sion, Divergence,  Convengence,  Germination 
and  Correlation.  These  represent  various 
phases  of  influence;  and  which  one  shall  be 
prominent  depends  to  a  great  extent  upon 
the  degree  of  individual  and  social  develop- 
ment. But  these  types  are  not  the  inven- 
tions of  any  individual;  they  spring  out  of 
the  general  structure  of  life  as  unfolded  in  the 


DIFFUSION  49 

social  system.  They  represent  the  provision 
in  the  human  constitution  for  a  developed 
social   and   personal   life. 

We  shall  devote  a  separate  chapter  to  each 
of  these  six  types. 

The  simplest  and  lowest  type  of  influence 
is  Diffusion.  A  handful  of  meal  consists  of 
individual  grains  which  may  be  counted  with 
the  aid  of  a  microscope;  but  the  moment 
one  of  them  is  touched  by  a  particle  of  yeast, 
it  spreads  the  fermentation  to  adjoining  grains 
until  the  whole  mass  becomes  a  new  product. 
So  in  human  life  a  man's  influence  diffuses 
itself  spontaneously  and  without  conscious 
purpose,  as  if  by  a  kind  of  social  contagion. 

Men  are  naturally  social  and  communica- 
tive. They  are  interested  in  one  another, 
and  apart  from  some  accidental  hindrance, 
they  delight  to  share  their  thoughts,  senti- 
ments and  actions.  With  the  eaves-dropper 
in  the  Roman  play,  though  in  a  higher  sense, 
they  would  say,  "  I  am  a  man,  and  I  count 
nothing  human  foreign  to  myself."  Thus 
by  the  force  of  nature,  without  conscious 
puq^ose  and  often  in  spite  of  it  mutual 
knowledge,   sentiment  and  influence  spread. 

This  type  of  influence  is  the  lowest  or 
most  elementary  of  the  six,   in   that   it  has 


50  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

least  thought  and  purpose  in  it.  In  the 
individual  life  it  especially  marks  the  period 
of  childhood  and  undeveloped  intelligence. 
Socially  it  marks  a  stage  of  civilization  at 
which  society  is  most  loosely  united  polit- 
ically, and  least  organized  intellectually.  But 
though  especially  prominent  in  the  lower 
stages  of  development,  diffusion  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  them.  No  social  stage 
escapes  it,  or  can  dispense  with  it. 

The  mental  basis  of  this  type  of  influence 
is  the  social  instinct,  and  especially  that 
phase  of  it  which  leads  men  to  imitate  one 
another.  Nature  itself  provides  for  this  in 
the  tendency  to  spontaneous  imitation,  with- 
out which  no  human  society  could  originate 
or  exist.  Bagehot,  in  his  "  Physics  and 
Politics,"  makes  imitation  the  foundation 
of  society,  and  Tarde  says,  "Society  is  imi- 
tation." This  word  of  Tarde's  is  of  course 
extravagant,  as  there  is  more  in  society  than 
imitation;  but  beyond  question  imitation  is 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  found- 
ing, building  and  preserving  society.  In  ad- 
vance of  knowledge  and  rational  insight  it 
binds  men  together  in  social  groups  and 
secures  oneness  of  thought  and  feeling  and 
custom,  thus  laying  a  foundation  on  which 


Pll-'FIJSIOM  51 

a  higher  and  more  rational  superstrueture 
may  be  built. 

The  very  fact  that  the  method  of  Diffusion 
is  connected  in  this  way  with  the  instinctive 
and  elemental  forces  of  our  nature  makes  it 
of  vast  social  importance.  During  the  period 
of  intellectual  minority  men  cannot  think 
for  themselves,  for  they  have  not  yet  learned 
to  think  at  all  in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word. 
No  society  can  be  built  out  of  such  materials 
by  appealing  to  the  reason.  During  this 
period  therefore  men  must  live  chiefly  by 
instinct  and  impulse,  and  make  progress  less 
by  rational  insight  than  by  hearsay  and 
imitation.  At  this  stage  of  civilization  it  is 
evident  that  the  diffusive  type  of  influence 
must   work    with    great   power. 

But  the  imitative  instinct  does  not  cease 
to  work  when  society  has  become  fully  organ- 
ized. It  becomes  conscious  and  deliberate 
as  reason  develops.  By  imitation  a  child's 
impulses  are  so  regulated,  and  his  mental 
growth  is  so  directed,  as  to  bring  him  into 
harmony  with  the  prevailing  type  of  man 
in  his  community.  By  imitation  the  adult 
is  gradually  led  to  adopt  the  habits  of  his 
class  or  his  calling.  Thus  is  produced  that 
essential  oneness  of  feeling  in  the  crowd,  the 


52  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

nation  or  the  race,  which  makes  possible  the 
spread  of  influence  in  society.  It  is  the 
imitative  tendency  that  makes  possible  a 
common  knowledge,  common  manners  and 
a  common  ideal. 

Of  course  if  imitation  were  the  only  factor 
in  human  nature  it  would  be  fatal  to  human 
progress.  Society  needs  individuals  who  do 
not  imitate  but  who  make  new  departures 
and  set  new  examples.  When  the  individual 
has  come  to  himself  and  is  capable  of  inde- 
pendent thought,  he  may  then  subject  the 
community  itself  to  criticism  and  advance 
beyond  it,  so  as  to  make  a  new  contribution 
to  the  community's  assets,  but  during  the 
period  of  intellectual  minority  he  must  live 
by  instinct  and  impulse,  and  he  progresses 
less  by  rational  insight  than  by  hearsay  and 
imitation.  This  is  the  counterpart  in  the 
mental  and  social  world,  of  the  herding  in- 
stinct in  the  animal  world. 

The  workings  of  the  method  of  Diffusion 
are  abundantly  shown  in  everyday  experi- 
ence. The  news  of  an  accident  is  quickly 
circulated  in  any  community,  for  each  neigh- 
bor's curiosity  prompts  him  to  listen,  and  his 
communicativeness  prompts  him  to  repeat 
what  he  has  heard.     Thus  the  news  of  current 


DIFFUSION  53 

events  spreads  with  astonishing  rapidity. 
This  tendency  to  diffusion  is  strengthened 
when  the  fact  or  idea  has  an  appreciable 
value.  The  knowledge  of  the  mariner's  com- 
pass could  not  be  confined  to  the  country 
of  the  discoverer,  for  every  sailor  carried  the 
information  to  the  port  for  which  he  was 
bound.  Gunpowder  w^ould  doubtless  have 
been  kept  secret  had  that  been  possible,  but 
since  for  military  purposes  its  use  had  to  be 
taught  to  a  whole  people,  other  nations 
learned  all  about  it.  Scientific  discoveries 
soon  become  common  property,  for  science 
by  its  very  nature  and  spirit  is  universal; 
it  cannot  exist  without  frank  communication 
of  facts  and  theories  among  investigators. 
Indeed  the  accepted  phrase  "civilized  world" 
implies  that  within  a  broad  and  international 
society  all  useful  ideas  belong  to  everybody 
by  a  kind  of  right.  Who  would  not  be 
shocked  at  the  thought  of  witliholding  any 
great  truth  from  his  fellow-men?  Tlie  forces 
that  make  for  diffusion  are  stronger  than 
those  that  make  for  concealment,  and  they 
grow  more  and  more  powerful  as  civilization 
advances.  "There  is  nothing  hidden  that 
shall    not    be    revealed." 


54  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

The  diffusion  of  ideas  is  increased  by  the 
close  connection  of  individuals.  The  mass- 
ing of  men  in  cities  contributes  to  this  result. 
Daily  interchange  of  thought  creates  a  like- 
minded  community  through  which  diffusion 
takes  place  with  incredible  swiftness  and 
intensity.  These  effects  have  been  height- 
ened by  modern  facilities  of  communication 
which  allow  mind  to  touch  mind  and  almost 
constantly  through  vast  spaces.  The  news- 
paper aided  by  the  telephone  and  cable  has 
made  the  whole  western  world  a  "crowd." 
It  sets  all  men  thinking  and  talking  about 
the  same  topics  on  the  same  day  and  creates 
the  same  emotions  in  nations  separated  by 
half  the  globe. 

Diffusion  of  ideas  becomes  more  complete 
with  the  growth  of  civilization.  In  the 
realm  of  art  diffusion  has  made  possible  the 
advance  of  music  from  the  horn  and  the 
tomtom,  to  the  violin  and  the  organ,  and 
from  the  rude  and  tuneless  chorus  to  the 
opera  and  symphony.  It  has  raised  paint- 
ing and  sculpture  from  rough  copy-work  to 
the  creations  of  Phidias  and  Raphael.  The 
example  of  great  writers  has  made  other 
writers  great.  Sallust  and  Tacitus  imitated 
Thucydides;    Virgil   imitated   Homer;   Tasso 


DIFFUSION  5  5 

imitated  Virgil.  Cicero,  Milton  and  Shelley 
confessed  that  they  longed  for  the  fame  that 
had  come  to  their  predecessors.  Such  long- 
ing has  made  the  world  richer,  wiser  and  bet- 
ter. 

Still  more  marked  is  the  tendency  to 
diffusion  in  the  case  of  the  sensibilities.  The 
joys  and  sorrows  of  life  are  more  *eagerly 
communicated  than  mere  news  or  abstract 
ideas,  and  they  meet  with  a  readier  response 
because  of  the  emotion  they  evoke.  Suf- 
ferings caused  by  an  earthquake  or  a  con- 
flagration produce  weaves  of  sympathy  that 
go  through  all  the  world.  Physical  things 
cannot  be  given  away  without  loss  to  the 
giver,  but  there  is  a  positive  gain  in  sharing 
delightful  sentiment  with  a  multitude.  This 
form  of  diffusion  is  based  on  fellow-feeling. 
Bentham's  remark  that  no  human  being 
would  so  much  as  lift  his  little  finger  for  you 
unless  he  saw  his  own  advantage  in  it,  is 
true  only  of  the  abstract,  theoretical  man  of 
certain  philosophers. 

Human  beings  crave  sympathy  and  are 
ready  to  be  moved  by  the  feelings  of  others. 
Even  our  intellectual  pleasures  are  largely 
social.  A  poem  or  romance  that  expresses 
high- wrought  feeling  must  be  read  aloud  in 


56  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

company  if  it  is  to  be  fully  enjoyed.  The 
larger  the  numbers,  the  more  immense  the 
emotional  glow.  Successive  discoveries  and 
inventions,  in  the  progress  of  science  from 
age  to  age,  allow  mind  to  touch  mind  and 
heart  to  touch  heart  at  multiplied  and  varied 
points;  thus  the  inter-communication  be- 
comes more  responsive  and  the  interest  of 
all  is  increased.  The  more  rapid  also  the 
means  of  communication  and  the  more  simul- 
taneous the  reception  of  tidings,  the  keener 
the  interest.  The  surrender  of  Cornwallis 
to  Washington  caused  great  joy;  the  sur- 
render of  Lee  to  Grant  caused  greater  joy. 
The  news  of  the  one  made  its  way  through 
a  sparsely  settled  countiy,  slowly  and  with 
long  delays;  the  news  of  the  other  flashed 
over  a  great  continent  in  an  hour.  A  vic- 
torious people  singing  the  Te  Deum  are  fused 
into  unity  and  brotherhood  by  the  common 
sentiment  which  thrills  every  heart.  At  the 
death  of  Queen  Victoria  the  entire  British 
empire  sorrowed  as  a  single  family  for  the 
loss  of  one  who  during  a  half  century  had 
embodied  the  sanest  ideas  of  English  life. 
Thus  by  force  of  our  natural  sympathy  "  the 
human  heart  by  which  we  live,"  men  unite 
into  a  common  brotherhood,   permeated   by 


DIFFUSIOM  57 

the  common  thought  and  sentiment  which 
diffuse  themselves  through   all. 

When  thought  and  feeling  rise  to  the 
higher  plane  of  morality  their  diffusive  power 
is  still  further  augmented.  Moral  principles 
are  more  fundamental  in  human  nature  and 
more  necessary  to  society  than  intellectual 
and  aesthetic  ideals.  Society  can  do  better 
with  poor  heads  than  with  ])oor  hearts.  It 
can  do  without  philosophy  but  not  without 
morals;  without  inventions,  but  not  without 
conduct;  without  a  system  of  knowledge  but 
not  without  a  sense  of  duty. 

Character  is  the  greatest  need  of  man. 
Moral  feeling  is  the  very  life-blood  of  all 
society,  even  the  most  primitive.  Righteous- 
ness and  justice  have  always  appealed  to 
men  with  a  force  that  could  not  be  defied 
or  mocked,  and  before  these  motives  selfish 
interests  must  give  way.  Conscience  in  the 
long  run,  proves  to  be  a  most  intractable 
faculty. 

Mere  thoughts  or  feelings  do  not  extend 
far  unless  they  are  important  in  themselves; 
but  w^hen  a  moral  principle  is  involved, 
conscience  recognizes  no  distinctions;  it  cares 
not  whether  the  interests  involved  are  large 
or  small.     The  moral   law  is  undeviating  in 


58  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

its  regularity  and  precise  even  in  trifles:  it 
may  be  broken  but  it  will  not  bend.  To 
ensure  the  well-being  of  society,  certain  rights 
between  man  and  man  must  be  preserved, 
and  for  this  reason  any  new  principle  which 
exposes  and  condemns  a  wrong  practice 
sooner  or  later  obtains  wide  circulation.  So 
long  as  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States  was  debated  as  a  mere  political  and 
economical  question,  it  was  so  fortified  by 
law  and  caste  as  to  seem  impregnable.  It 
was  only  when  people  of .  the  North  saw 
fugitives  pass  through  their  midst  by  under- 
ground Railway  and  heard  from  the  slave 
the  meaning  of  slavery,  that  their  sympa- 
thies went  forth  beyond  the  quiet  home 
circles.  Then  came  the  conviction  that  the 
institution  was  a  crime  and  must  be  destroyed. 
And  in  general  when  a  thing  is  wrong  sooner 
or  later  it  must  go.  No  induction  from  his- 
tory is   surer  than   this. 

An  astronomer  sees  disturbances  in  the 
heavens,  reasons  about  them,  forecasts,  ob- 
serves again  and  determines  the  place  of  an 
unknown  planet;  the  orbit  of  that  planet, 
once  determined,  is  found  to  be  fixed  by  virtue 
of  the  relations  which  the  planet  bears  to 
other   heavenly    bodies.     Ethical    science    in 


DIFFUSION  59 

like  manner  discovers  a  new  principle  of  right 
social  condition,  and  fixes  its  place  in  the 
ideal  social  order.  It  must  abide  there  by- 
virtue  of  its  inherent  relation  to  other  jjrin- 
ciples;  no  convulsions  in  society  or  politics 
can  ever  disturb  it.  So  it  has  been  possible 
for  individuals  to  ennoble  the  conduct  and 
character  of  their  fellows  through  their  ex- 
alted conception  of  man's  duties  and  oppor- 
tunities, of  his  powers  and  ideals.  Such  has 
been  the  influence  of  writers  like  Epictctus 
and  Marcus  Aurelius,  Boethius  and  Thomas 
a  Kempis.  They  have  promoted  justice  and 
equity  by  setting  a  better  standard  of  national 
right  than  mere  predatory  greed  or  irrespon- 
sible passion.  They  have  given  us  a  new  and 
keener  sense  of  universal  brotherhood.  They 
have  furnished  ideals  and  examples  of  charac- 
ter and  conduct  that  appeal  to  our  better 
nature,  and  thus  have  raised  humanity  to  a 
higher  level  for  all  time.  And  so  at  every 
crisis,  when  man's  feelings  have  been  stirred 
by  some  wrong  or  evil,  and  their  consciences 
roused  to  a  vague  feeling  of  personal  respon- 
sibility, the  man  of  insight  who  has  spoken 
the  right  word  or  planned  the  true  course 
or  taken  the  lead  iri  heroic  action,  has  exerted 
incalculable  influence.     In  a  word  whatever 


6o  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  sphere  in  which  the  individual  is  active 
the  effect  of  what  he  says  or  does  may,  by 
the  process  of  diffusion,  become  as  wide  as 
the  world. 

Let  us  consider  next  the  diffusion  of  actions. 
When  we  turn  from  the  intellect,  the  feelings 
and  the  conscience  of  men  to  their  actions, 
the  significance  of  the  individual  comes  out 
in  a  very  striking  way.  Here  we  are  not 
concerned  with  instinctive  and  unreflecting 
acts  such  as  we  discussed  in  an  earlier  part 
of  the  chapter.  We  are  now  to  couvsider 
those  higher  forms  of  action,  in  which  the 
imitation  of  an  example  results  in  a  type  of 
conduct — such  conduct  as  is  the  expression 
of  character. 

Human  nature  is  sound  at  the  core  and 
sooner  or  later  chooses  the  best  things. 
Hence  it  is  that  while  exhortation  is  often 
weak,  example  draws  men  on.  Hence  the 
importance  of  concrete  ideals  and  living 
examples  which  inspire  to  imitation  while 
they  rebuke  by  their  lofty  grandeur.  Hence 
again  heroes  and  saints  and  the  story  of  their 
deeds,  are  among  the  most  precious  treasures 
of  humanity.  To  fill  the  mind  with  patriotic 
memories  is  the  best  way  to  make  patriots. 
Enthusiasm  for  the   service  of  humanity  is 


DI  FPUS  JON  6 1 

kindled  by  knowing  wluiL  the  i^M-c:il  and  good 
have  done  and  are  doing  to  build  manhood 
into  its  best  estate.  The  supreme  ilhistration 
of  this  is  the  Man  of  Nazareth.  He  did  not 
say  very  much  or  Hve  very  long.  But  his 
life  divided  the  ancient  from  the  modern 
world,  and  makes  the  date  of  his  birth  the 
"year  of  our  Lord,"  and  the  central  point 
in   history. 

Heroic  example  appeals  to  the  highest 
motives.  When  Aurungzefje  chained  his  ele- 
phant's feet  to  the  earth  to  force  his  guards 
to  stand  their  ground ;  when  Bernadotte  flung 
his  decorations  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy 
to  shame  his  troops  into  charging  and  recover- 
ing them;  when  Washington  remained  with- 
in a  few  yards  of  the  British  batteries  at 
Princeton  to  steady  his  men;  when  Tallien 
took  his  life  in  his  hands  and  assailed  the 
dominance  of  Robespierre  and  the  Terrorists; 
others  were  fired  to  emulation. 

A  certain  factor  of  intensity  remains  to 
be  mentioned  which  profoundly  affects  the 
diffusive  process.  This  is  the  factor  of  in- 
terest or  excitement,  and  this  in  turn  depends 
on  many  things,  but  especially  on  numbers 
or  on  the  presence  of  a  crowd.  The  factor 
of  interest  affects  all  the  forms  of  diffusion 


62  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

treated  of,  as  a  kind  of  variable  coefficient; 
and  the  rate  and  intensity  of  diffusion  varies 
accordingly.  An  excitement  itself  is  purely 
an  emotional  condition,  varying  in  quality 
and  nationality  with  the  ideas  and  principles 
to  which  it  is  attached,  from  mere  lack  of 
self-control  to  the  exaltation  arising  from  the 
highest  spiritual  conceptions.  But  in  each 
case  the  excitement  gives  greater  intensity 
to  the  mental  action,  and  also  greater  diffusive 
power. 

Diffusion  under  excitement  has  produced 
great  national  and  international  movements. 
When  Joan  of  Arc  appeared  before  the 
Dauphin  Charles  and  his  army,  enthusiastic 
belief  in  her  mission  seized  upon  the  clergy, 
the  courtiers,  the  soldiers,  the  nation.  The 
wave  of  patriotism  swept  all  before  it  and 
forced  the  English  from  the  heart  of  France. 
When  Pope  Urban  preached  the  first  crusade 
at  Clermont,  thousands  who  heard  him  at 
once  took  the  cross  shouting  "  It  is  the  will 
of  God."  As  they  went  home  to  make 
preparations,  others  caught  from  them  the 
crusading  zeal  and  the  great  movement  of 
the  West  upon  the  East  was  precipitated- 
The  rapidity  and  intensity  with  which  human 
interests  are  roused  finds  illustration  in  the 


DIFFUSION  63 

progress  of  the  great  political  ideas  which 
underlie  modern  society. 

For  many  centuries  few  of  the  inherent 
rights  of  man  were  recognized  by  European 
states.  When  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  Fenelon  wrote  his  "Telemachus" 
a  mild  ethical  treatise  in  the  guise  of  a  story, 
and  incidentally  gave  expression  to  the  theory 
that  kings  were  made  for  subjects  and  not 
subjects  for  kings,  the  courtiers  of  Louis 
XIV.  were  f lightened  at  so  revolutionary  a 
doctrine.  But  the  leaven  eventually  worked. 
America  wrote  a  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  enforced  it  under  arms. 

Then  came  the  French  Revolution  in  which 
the  fountains  of  the  social  deep  were  broken 
up.  The  rising  flood  of  the  new  thinking 
burst  all  the  barriers  with  the  force  of  a 
tidal  wave  and  the  doctrine  of  liberty,  equality 
and  fraternity  spread  over  the  civilized  world. 
Forty  years  later  another  revolution  in  France, 
involving  the  defeat  of  the  Coup  d'Etat  of 
1830  and  the  deposition  of  Charles  X.  made 
itself  felt  across  the  Channel  and  helped  to 
pass  the  English  Reform  Bill  of  1832.  It 
sent  its  thrill  across  the  border  and  Belgium 
freed  itself  from  Holland.  It  penetrated 
down-trodden   Poland    and    forced    the   Czar 


64  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

to  keep  his  hold  on  its  poor  remnant,  the 
Duchy  of  Warsaw,  by  fire  and  sword.  Then 
came  the  French  revokition  of  1848,  and 
again  a  similar  tide  of  ideas  swept  over 
Europe.  Hungary  revolted  from  Austria. 
The  Kingdom  of  Sardinia  gained  a  parlia- 
ment, which  became  the  nucleus  of  a  constitu- 
tional government  for  a  later  united  Italy. 
There  were  revolutions  in  Germany  and  un- 
rest was  felt  everywhere.  Finally  the  recent 
spectacle  of  the  peaceful  and  prosperous 
French  commonwealth  has  by  a  process  of 
diffusion  powerfully  advanced  the  growth 
of  republicanism  throughout  the  Old  World. 
The  French  revolutionary  movement  re- 
vealed the  excitement  of  the  mob  but  it 
showed  at  the  same  time  the  unselfish  spirit 
of  those  who  were  eager  for  reform.  Taine 
says,  "The  perpetrators  of  the  September 
Massacres  deposited  on  the  Committee's  table 
the  pocket-books  and  jewels  they  had  taken 
from  their  victims,  although  they  could 
easily  have  made  away  with  them.-  The 
howling  ragged  mob  which  invaded  the  Tuil- 
eries  during  the  Revolution  of  1848  laid 
hands  on  none  of  the  objects  of  their  wonder- 
ment, any  one  of  which  would  have  meant 
bread  for  many  days."     Still  more  striking 


PIFFUSlOiW  6  s 

is  the  "  Day  of  Sacrifices"  in  the  Revolution 
of  1789.  The  Committee  on  the  State  of 
the  Nation  reported  that  chateaux  were  burn- 
ing all  over  l^'rance,  that  salt  ware-houses 
were  being  destroyed,  millers  hanged,  tax- 
gatherers  drowned.  The  Assembly  listened 
in  a  sort  of  stupor,  until  the  Vicomte  de 
Noailles  rushed  to  the  Tril)une  and  moved 
to  abolish  feudal  rights.  D'Aiguillon,  next 
to  the  king  the  greatest  feudal  lord  in  France, 
seconded  his  motion,  which  was  passed  in  a 
frenzy  of  self-sacrifice.  Noble  after  noble 
rose  to  renounce  his  privileges,  many  beggar- 
ing themselves  in  their  enthusiasm.  The 
clergy  vied  with  the  nobility,  and  the  Old 
Regime  was  outlawed  in  a  single  night. 

In  religious  excitement  there  is  an  ecstacy 
that  lifts  the  individual  into  a  realm  of  larger 
interests.  When  Bernard  preached  the  sec- 
ond crusade  wives  hid  their  husbands  and 
mothers  their  sons,  lest  at  his  word  they 
should  forget  home  and  self  and  join  the 
enthusiastic  defenders  of  the  cross.  When 
George  Whitefield  preached  to  the  people 
of  England  in  the  open  fields  it  was  as  if 
Heaven  itself  uttered  its  voice.  He  spoke 
w^ith  authority;  he  made  real  the  scenes  of 
the    other   world    and    he    gripped    the    con- 


66  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

sciences  of  men  and  women.  Strong  men 
cried  out  in  their  anguish  of  soul,  women 
screamed  and  fainted;  people  were  beside 
themselves  as  they  faced  the  reality  of  the 
soul-life  and  saw  visions  of  sin  and  punish- 
ment. Such  experiences  were  common  in 
the  religious  revivals  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 

The  fact  of  excitement  and  its  great  dif- 
fusive power  is  largely  a  social  fact.  Of 
course  an  isolated  individual  can  be  aroused 
by  his  solitary  contemplations  but  the  great 
enthusiasms  are  social  and  depend  on  their 
being  shared.  We  have  in  this  fact  a  further 
illustration  of  the  fact  already  dwelt  upon, 
that  man  is  essentially  social  and  has  his 
full  human  existence  only  in  society.  Men 
are  not  merely  added  together  in  society; 
they  are  intensified  and  transformed;  they 
develop  possibilities  of  which  in  their  isolated 
existence  they  give  little  hint. 

Manifestly,  the  rapidity  with  which  dif- 
fusion works  and  the  intensity  which  often 
marks  its  operations  are  facts  of  human  na- 
ture. They  involve  great  possibilities  of  evil 
but  without  them  there  could  be  no  advance- 
ment. The  poet,  the  orator,  the  reformer, 
who  knows  what  is  in  man  and  can  read  the 


DIFFUSION  67 

signs  of  the  times  has  tremendous  power  at 
his  command.  The  world  responds  to  every 
great  soul  that  has  a  message  to  proclaim, 
whether  that  message  is  expressed  in  word 
or  in  heroic  action. 

Thus  the  great  diffusive  process  goes  on 
with  increasing  efficiency  in  the  service  of 
humanity.  Material  comfort  spreads;  the  so- 
cial order  improves;  knowledge  grows;  the 
thoughts  of  men  widen  and  both  social  and 
individual  ideals  are  elevated.  The  human 
lump  is  leavened.  The  contagion  of  progress 
spreads.  Because  of  it  man  already  has 
made  mighty  advances,  and  these  are  proph- 
etic of  better  things  to  come. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SUCCESSION. 

The  second  method  by  which  individuals 
exert  an  influence  on  society  is  by  succession 
through  a  single  orderly  series  of  units.  Its 
operation  may  be  illustrated  by  a  familiar 
example.  Couriers  are  employed  to  carry 
an  oral  message  a  long  distance:  the  first 
courier  travels  a  certain  stage  and  gives  his 
message  to  the  second;  the  second  passes  it 
along  to  the  third  and  so  on  until  it  reaches 
its   destination. 

The  advantages  of  this  method  over  dif- 
fusion are  manifest.  First,  there  is  an  estab- 
lished arrangement  for  transmission  so  that 
the  influence  is  not  haphazard  but  directed. 
Secondly,  men  are  no  longer  to  be  regarded 
in  the  mass,  and  therefore  a  new  importance 
attaches  to  the  individual:  he  is  selected  to 
do  a  certain  work,  and  is  identified  with  that 
work.  Thirdly,  there  is  greater  economy  of 
effort;  for  since  the  integers  are  better  organ- 
ized and  the  force  is  exerted  in  a  definite  direc- 

68 


SUCCESSION  60 

tion.  more  is  accomplished  by  fewer  indivi- 
duals and  with  less  expenditure  of  energy. 
Because  of  these  three  advantages  the  social 
operations  of  the  individual  have  no  longer 
the  somewhat  random  character  that  marks 
the  method  of  diffusion. 

It  is  obvious  of  course  that  all  personal  in- 
fluence is  subject  to  spatial  and  temporal 
laws  in  some  degree,  for  men  live  in  space 
and  time  which  are  the  great  forms  of  hu- 
man experience.  Men  stand  in  very  com- 
plex relations  to  them  and  through  them 
to  one  another.  Spatial  location,  transmis- 
sion and  measurement,  make  up  a  very  large 
part  of  theoretical  and  practical  science; 
and  they  are  fundamental  factors  in  daily 
life.  Travel  and  transportation  and  the  find- 
ing of  things  and  places  come  within  their 
scope.  Tem])oral  measurement  likewise  and 
the  adjustment  of  the  present  to  the  past 
and  future,  make  up  a  large  part  of  theoretical 
and  legal  science  and  enter  profoundly  into 
the  world  of  custom,  tradition  and  daily 
intercourse.  Consequently  society  has  de- 
veloped an  extensive  spatial  and  temporal 
mechanism  whereby  man  has  mastered  to 
some  extent  his  space  and  time  relations  and 
thus   has   greatly   extended    his    power   over 


70  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

nature  and  his  influence  in  society.  This 
mechanism  is  the  subject  of  the  present 
chapter.  And  first  we  consider  the  space 
mechanism  and  its  social  importance. 

The  race  lives  in  a  spatial  world  and  it 
began  at  the  human  zero.  From  this  point 
it  had  to  find  its  way  into  the  developed 
human  life.  It  had  the  possibilities  of  hu- 
manity for  its  outfit,  but  none  of  them  was 
developed.  Now  in  such  a  world  and  with 
such  a  race,  the  supreme  condition  of  any 
progress  toward  civilization  is  to  form  a 
means  of  location  and  of  communication. 
Man  must  be  able  to  locate  things  and  places, 
to  find  them  when  he  wants  them  and  to  go 
from  place  to  place  upon  occasion.  This  is 
necessary  for  travel  and  for  the  transmission 
of  goods,  news,  ideas  and  various  forms  of 
social  influence  and  authority.  There  could 
be  little  civilization  without  roads  and  geog- 
raphy. This  is  so  obvious  now  as  to  seem  a 
commonplace.  We  are  so  familiar  with  the 
facts  that  we  take  them  for  granted  and  over- 
look the  amount  of  thought  and  work  they 
represent  and  also  their  great  social  impor- 
tance. 

vSome  provision  for  communication  is  found 
in  the  physical  world  itself.     This  is  a  place 


SUCCESSION  71 

of  good  fortune  for  civilization.  Mountain 
ranges  might  have  been  so  rugged  and  seas 
so  stormy  as  to  make  travel  possible  only 
within  narrow  limits,  in  which  case  this  earth 
would  have  had  only  barbarous  tribes  for 
inhabitants. 

The  uses  which  the  individual  can  make 
of  the  successive  method  by  virtue  of  his  space 
relations  are  three:  for  communication,  for 
guidance  and  for  occupancy. 

For  the  purpose  of  communication,  nature 
is  readily  adaptable.  Plains  and  mountain 
passes,  seas  and  lakes  and  rivers  have  always 
served  as  avenues  of  migration  and  traffic. 
The  earliest  civilizations  arose  in  the  great 
river- valleys  of  the  East.  Up  and  down  the 
Nile  went  the  traffic  of  Egypt  for  every  city 
and  town  connected  with  this  artery  of  the 
nation.  The  Tigris-Euphrates  valley  made 
possible  a  homogeneous  national  life  in  the 
cities  of  Babylonia,  and  successive  empires 
with  their  seats  on  one  or  the  other  of  these 
rivers  maintained  vital  connection  with  all 
parts  of  their  immediate  realm.  Under  pure- 
ly natural  conditions  however  the  spread  of 
influence  is  slow  and  uncertain  and  events 
occuring  in  one  part  of  the  country  may 
remain  for  years  unknown  to  another.     Until 


72  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

very  recent  times  a  packet  of  mail  might 
take  months  to  reach  a  foreign  port,  with 
the  chances  many  that  the  vessel  might  sink 
on  the  way,  or  be  captured  by  an  enemy. 
On  land,  mail  was  carried  by  a  succession  of 
riders.  But  social  advancement  has  not  re- 
mained at  the  mercy  of  nature.  Roads  have 
been  cut  and  paved,  rivers  bridged,  moun- 
tains tunneled.  Fresh  in  our  memory  is  the 
accurate  junction  of  the  two  arms  of  the 
Simplon  tunnel,  one  stretching  out  from 
Italy,  the  other  from  Switzerland,  to  meet 
in  the  heart  of  the  mountain.  Steam  and 
electricity  have  eliminated  distance  and  min- 
imized uncertainty.  On  our  swift  modern 
steamships  the  mails  are  sorted  into  their 
proper  pouches,  that  on  arrival  in  port  they 
may  be  immediately  transferred  to  railway 
trains  and  despatched  to  their  several  ad- 
dresses without  a  moment's  delay.  So  ac- 
curate has  the  system  become  that  the  loss 
of  a  mailpouch,  except  by  theft,  fire  or  ship- 
wreck, is  almost  unknown  and  even  a  single 
letter,  imperfectly  and  often  illegibly  ad- 
dressed rarely  goes  astray.  The  same  suc- 
cessive method  facilitates  communication  by 
telegraph   or  telephone,  at   all  hours  of  the 


SUCCESSfO.-V  73 

day  or  night  and  in  every  part  f)f  the  civilized 
world. 

Another  example  of  the  working  of  the 
successive  method  may  be  seen  in  the  trans- 
portation of  passengers  and  merchandise. 
Under  primitive  conditions  commodities  were 
carried  over  trails  by  single  persons  or  relays 
or  were  floated  down  successive  water-courses 
in  hollowed  tree-trunks  or  on  rafts.  Now 
we  send  goods  from  end  to  end  of  the  world. 
A  man  may  take  a  cab  at  his  own  door,  drive 
to  the  railway  station,  travel  thousands  of 
miles  by  train  and  take  another  cab  to  his 
hotel.  He  is  able  to  foretell  within  an  hour 
or  two  his  arrival  at  a  place  three  or  four 
thousand  miles  away.  And  travel  by  sea 
is  not  less  perfectly  arranged.  Jules  Verne's 
"Around  the  World  in  Eighty  Days"  was 
an  improbable  romance  when  it  was  written; 
but  the  trip  can  now  be  easily  made  in  little 
more  than  half  the  time.  The  enormous  ex- 
tension of  our  spatial  influence  through  the 
post  office  would  have  amazed  Rowland  Hill 
the  introducer  of  penny  postage  into  Great 
Britain.  A  glimpse  into  a  single  busy  metro- 
politan ollice  needs  to  be  multiplied  in  imagi- 
nation actually  millions  of  times  before  we 
grasp   the   interchange   of  mail   which   takes 


74  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

place  daily  within  and  between  the  nations 
of  the  International  Postal  Union.  Tele- 
graph and  telephone  are  similar  in  their  in- 
fluence, and  now  that  aerial  navigation  has 
proved  possible  an  even  greater  triumph 
over  space  seems  assured.  By  such  develop- 
ments a  vast  enlargement  of  spatial  range 
a.nd  social  effectiveness  is  secured,  together 
with  a  very  great  economy  of  time  and  money. 
Ease  of  communication  and  swiftness  and 
certainty  of  transportation  are  the  basis  of 
all  extensive  commerce,  without  which  man 
could  hardly  get  beyond  the  limited  opera- 
tions of  barter  with  his  neighbors.  It  is  the 
ready  access  to  markets  that  gives  land  most 
of  its  value  and  that  makes  manufacturing 
on  a  large  scale  renumerative.  Fertile  soil 
in  central  Africa  is  worthless,  and  costly 
transportation  is  prohibitive.  So  it  was  with 
the  vast  Northwest  after  the  American  Revo- 
lution. In  1820  De  Witt  Clinton  saw  that 
an  artificial  waterway  connecting  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  tide  waters  of  the  Hudson, 
would  develop  not  only  the  new  country  but 
the  state  of  which  he  was  governor.  There- 
upon for  thirty  years  the  Erie  Canal  carried 
unchallenged  the  produce  of  the  virgin  prai- 
ries  and    New   York   rose   from   a   mediocre 


SUCCESS/ON  75 

position  to  the  rank  of  Empire  State.  Rail- 
roads and  steamship  Hnes  are  not  commonly 
thought  of  as  apostles,  but  certainly  they  are 
Baptist  messengers  before  the  face  of  hu- 
manity, preparing  the  way  for  great  develop- 
ments of  trade,  commerce  and  world-neigh- 
borhood which  never  could  have  existed 
without  them  and  which  would  at  once  col- 
lapse if  they  were  taken  away.  In  India  the 
railroad,  by  bringing  all  castes  into  contact, 
is  doing  much  to  l3reak  down  the  caste  system. 
The  proposed  overland  railway  from  Euro]:)e 
to  India,  cannot  fail  to  be  a  great  stimulus 
to  the  industrial  development  of  the  country. 
In  our  own  country  extension  of  the  electric 
trolley  system  solves  the  problem  of  con- 
gested population  in  cities. 

Conversely  the  importance  of  railroads  and 
steamship  lines  is  seen  in  the  bad  conditions 
which  prevail  when  they  are  lacking.  With- 
out means  of  quick  and  abundant  transpor- 
tation, society  is  perpetually  exposed  to  the 
ravages  of  famine.  The  famines  in  India 
years  ago  were  so  destructive  because  of  lack 
of  transportation.  There  was  food  enough 
in  the  country  to  feed  the  starving  but  it 
could  not  be  brouglit  in  time  to  give  relief. 
The    ravages    of    the    last    famine    were    less 


76  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

destructive  mainly  because  meantime  the 
railway  system  had  been  extended  and  thus 
food  could  be  carried  where  it  was  needed. 
If  our  American  transportation  system  were 
blocked  for  a  few  weeks,  our  great  cities 
would  soon  be  facing  famine  conditions. 
During  the  "Great  Blizzard"  no  trains  came 
into  New  York  City  for  several  days  and 
certain  main  supplies  like  butter,  eggs  and 
milk  were  cut  off. 

The  political  importance  of  extensive  and 
rapid  communication  is  evident.  No  ancient 
empire  attained  to  permanence  and  assimi- 
lated its  dependencies  to  its  own  civilization 
until  Rome  stretched  out  her  military  roads. 
As  troops  and  traders  passed  easily  and 
quickly  over  them,  Spaniards,  Gauls,  Greeks 
and  Libyans  became  as  Roman  as  the  Italians 
themselves.  For  four  centuries  there  was 
peace  within  the  boundaries  of  the  civilized 
western  world.  The  lines  of  communication 
once  broken,  the  disconnected  fragments  of 
the  empire  lapsed  into  disorder.  Charlemagne, 
Frederick  II.  and  Charles  V.  attempting  to 
form  a  new  empire  similar  to  the  old,  met 
with  failure  largely  because  it  was  so  difficult 
for  some  parts  of  their  domains  to  communi- 
cate with  other  parts.     Only  in  our  own  day 


SUCCESS/0.!V  7  7 

have  well-known  inventions  made  it  easier 
to  direct  Indian  affairs  from  London  or 
Philippine  affairs  from  Washington,  than  it 
was  to  police  the  Scottish  border  in  the  days 
of  Prince  Charlie.  Even  yet  the  re-creation 
of  the  Chinese  empire  waits  upon  good  roads, 
highways,  railroads  and  other  means  of  com- 
munication and  it  is  to  provide  these  that  the 
"  reform  party"  is  now  busy.  Next  to  a  good 
financial  system  and  a  reformed  civil  service, 
improved  means  of  communication  is  the 
most  important  of  China's  reforms  and  it  is 
hard  to  see  how  she  can  emerge  from  her 
backward  state  until  this  need  has  been 
supplied. 

Scarcely  less  important  is  the  mechanism 
of  communication  in  the  intellectual  world. 
In  the  previous  chapter  w^e  have  spoken  of 
the  diffusion  of  ideas  and  sentiments,  but 
we  did  not  point  out  that  this  diffusion  de- 
pends for  its  range  and  rapidity  on  the  mech- 
anism of  communication.  The  railroad  and 
steamship  make  travel  swift  and  easy.  For 
a  few  cents  the  post  office  connects  us  with 
the  other  side  of  the  earth.  The  telegraph 
reports  from  day  to  day  all  the  important 
current  events  in  the  civilized  world.  In  this 
way  scholars  and  thinkers  at  once  share  one 


78  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

another's  ideas,  the  new  truth  quickly  be- 
comes a  universal  possession.  Thus  by  this 
interaction  thought  is  quickened  and  its 
results  are  spread.  The  same  fact  as  before 
noted  gives  the  social  instincts  a  chance  to 
act  beyond  anything  possible  to  them  with 
primitive  means  of  communication.  Hu- 
mane feeling  and  action  are  conditioned  by 
sympathy,  and  knowledge  that  sympathy 
exists  depends  on  the  mechanism  of  com- 
munication. Our  sympathies  are  usually  ad- 
justed to  action  at  close  range.  Whatever 
shortens  the  range  by  quickening  the  com- 
munication, extends  the  sympathy  and  thus 
develops  humanity.  Hence  good  roads,  cheap 
and  quick  means  of  travel,  the  post  office, 
the  telephone  and  telegraph  are  veritable 
means  of  grace,  in  that  they  furnish  the  con- 
ditions of  a  higher  and  more  effective  hu- 
manity. One  of  the  earliest  empires,  the 
Persian,  maintained  its  ascendency  for  hun- 
dreds of  years  as  did  Rome  by  means  of  its 
roads  ramifying  throughout  the  empire,  over 
which  passed  post-horses  and  post-riders  and 
along  which  hurried  military  forces  needed 
at  some  distant  point. 

But  the  social  significance  of  spatial   re- 
lations is  by  no  means  exhausted  in  these 


SUCCESSION  79 

transmissive  operations.  Efjually  significant 
for  civilization  are  those  o]3erations  which 
enable  us  to  locate  and  defme  particular 
spaces,  and  to  determine  their  relations  to 
one  another  with  precision.  This  involves 
the  sciences  of  geometry  and  trigonometry, 
with  their  practical  application  in  astronomy, 
surveying  and  navigation,  and  their  more 
refined  and  difficult  a])plication  in  the  physi- 
cal sciences.  The  significance  of  this  mastery 
of  space  relations  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
If  we  compare  with  civilized  methods  of  liv- 
ing the  rude  life  of  the  Indian,  with  his  group 
of  wigwams  scattered  far  and  wide,  and  \vith 
rough  trails  as  his  only  means  of  communica- 
tion it  will  be  seen  that  the  advance  which 
civilization  has  made  over  barbarism  has  been 
due  largely  to  the  systematic  fashion  in  which 
the  surface  of  the  earth  has  been  laid  out 
and  located  and  made  accessible.  In  civilized 
countries  roads  are  so  extensive  that  a  man 
can  without  difficulty  reach  every  nook  and 
comer  of  the  land.  Again,  definite  bound- 
aries to  estates  are  established,  thus  creating 
property  rights  and  rights  of  inheritance. 

National  surveys  have  mapped  out  every 
portion  of  the  world  in  which  they  can  be 
carried  on.     By  the  invaluable  range  system 


8o  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  the  United  States,  adopted  by  Congress 
under  Jefferson's  influence  in  1785,  Govern- 
ment lands  are  spaced  off  in  lines  of  latitude 
and  longitude  and  into  blocks,  the  relation 
of  which  to  each  other  can  be  expressed  by 
the  simplest  numeration  table.  A  stranger 
can  start  from  a  given  point  three  thousand 
miles  away  and  locate  unfailingly  the  position 
of  the  obscurest  farm  he  may  wish  to  reach. 
What  is  true  of  the  mensuration  and  plot- 
ting of  areas  of  land  is  true  of  the  same  thing 
at  sea  as  made  possible  by  the  refined  methods 
of  modern  mathematics.  Indeed  all  forms 
of  intercommunication  between  distant  peo- 
ples are  now  dependent  upon  the  charting 
and  safer  navigation  of  the  waters  which 
separate  them.  In  antiquity  the  navigator 
was  guided  by  the  eye  alone;  by  day  he 
scarcely  ventured  out  of  sight  of  land,  and 
at  nightfall  he  sought  safety  in  some  harbor 
or  inlet.  In  modern  times,  wherever  civili- 
zation holds  sway,  a  succession  of  buoys  and 
light-houses  enables  him  to  follow  the  coast, 
night  after  night,  with  unerring  precision. 
But  all  guidance  fails  him  when  he  ventures 
far  out  on  the  open  sea.  The  wake  of  the 
largest  ship  is  soon  obliterated.  The  utmost 
power  of  man  cannot  set  up  so  much  as  a 


SUCCESSION  8 1 

beacon  light  in  mid-ocean.  At  times  the 
mariner  enshrouded  in  darkness  and  tempest 
is  utterly  bewildered.  Bui  when  the  storm 
has  subsided,  chart,  (juadrant  and  compass 
enable  him  to  lix  the  ])osition  of  his  vessel 
with  certainty  and  to  lay  her  course  anew. 
Thus  he  is  led  as  surely  to  his  destined  haven 
as  if  a  cloud  were  his  guide  by  day  and  a 
pillar  of  fire  by  night. 

Turning  to  consideration  of  Succession  in 
Time,  we  see  that  the  social  uses  of  time  are 
no  less  important  than  those  of  space.  Hence 
society  has  developed  a  time  mechanism 
analogous  to  its  space  mechanism.  Much  of 
our  activity  has  a  spatial  outlook,  but  even 
more  of  it  has  a  temporal  outlook,  referring 
to  things  past,  present  or  future.  We  can 
to  some  extent  withdraw  from  or  control 
our  space  relations  but  the  time  order  moves 
on  "the  same  yesterday,  today  and  forever." 
We  can  change  our  position;  we  can  seek  a 
place  that  is  to  our  liking;  we  can  move  from 
one  country  to  another.  But  we  cannot 
change  our  position  in  time;  we  must  accept 
the  age  into  which  we  have  been  born.  We 
can  choose  the  place  where  we  shall  live 
but  we  cannot  choose  the  time  when  we  shall 
live. 


82     EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

While  all  physical  changes  involve  time, 
there  are  certain  successive  operations  in 
which  the  temporal  factor  is  of  central  im- 
portance. Thus  the  alternations  of  day  and 
night,  of  seasons  and  tides,  the  series  of  days, 
months,  years  and  the  artificial  periods  adopt- 
ed by  historians — the  so-called  epochs  and 
eras — all  form  successions  by  which  we  sys- 
tematize our  knowledge  of  the  past  and 
regulate   our  social   life  in   the  present. 

As  soon  as  society  is  sufficient  developed 
to  need  a  record,  a  system  of  chronology 
comes  into  use.  At  first  the  calendar  was 
based  simply  upon  the  traditional  succession 
of  rulers;  then  upon  the  years  or  the  events 
of  a  king's  reign.  Later  some  real  or  imagi- 
nary point  in  the  past  was  selected  and  time 
was  reckoned  from  it.  This  is  the  triumph 
of  the  calendar  system  and  marks  the  rise 
of  a  true  chronology.  Greece  adopted  as  a 
starting  point  the  supposed  date  of  the  first 
Olympic  Games,  776  B.  C. ;  Rome,  the  legen- 
dary foundation  of  the  city,  about  750  B.  C. ; 
Christendom,  the  supposed  date  of  the  birth 
of  Christ;  the  Moslem  world,  the  "  Hegira" 
of  the  Prophet  622  A.  D.  Although  in  most 
cases,  the  date  selected  as  a  point  of  depar- 
ture is  based   on  no  precise  evidence,   this 


SUCCESSION  83 

does  not  change  the  ]M'inci])lc  of  succession 
or  lesson  the  practical  utility  of  the  calendar. 

The  more  complex  society  becomes,  the 
more  dependent  it  is  upon  accurate  succession 
in  time.  The  hour,  of  no  importance  to  roam- 
ing tribes,  becomes  a  neccssit)^  for  employers 
and  workmen.  The  minute  is  important  in 
cookery,  in  the  smelting  of  metals,  the  glaz- 
ing of  pottery  and  the  practice  of  medicine. 
The  seconds  come  into  play  with  the  de- 
velopment of  exact  science  and  much  impor- 
tant work  depends  upon  the  determination 
of   even    smaller   fractions    than    this. 

Time  not  only  contains  its  own  internal 
succession,  but  it  may  also  be  regarded  as 
either  a  terminal  point  or  an  initial  point; 
terminal  with  reference  to  the  past,  initial 
with  reference  to  the  future.  This  is  true 
for  the  abstract  scientific  conception  of  time 
as  in  astronomy,  when  we  fix  the  times  and 
periods  of  the  stars  and  for  the  temporal 
relations  of  daily  life  as  when  the  banker 
computes  the  time  when  loans  and  bonds 
fall  due.  It  is  this  latter  relation  that  con- 
cerns us.  We  may  therefore  study  the  social 
uses  of  Succession  in  Time  under  three 
heads: — fulfillment  of  the  past,  adjustment  to 
the  present,  and  determination  of  the  future. 


84  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

First,  each  man  takes  up  the  work  of  the 
past  at  the  point  where  his  predecessors  left 
it.  He  is  under  an  impHed  obUgation  to 
continue  the  work  and  to  reaHze,  as  far  as 
he  can,  the  ideals  of  those  who  went  before 
him. 

This  general  fact  of  obligation  to  the  ideals 
of  the  past  underlies  the  oneness  of  humanity 
in  its  successive  generations.  The  inherited 
wealth  of  all  kinds  stored  up  by  the  past, 
the  inherited  tasks  with  the  implied  obliga- 
tion to  work  them  out  and  the  inherited 
social  feelings  are  the  beneficent  bond  of 
society.  With  this  transmission  of  work 
goes  also  a  transmission  of  ideas  and  ex- 
periences, often  condensed  into  proverbs  or 
maxims.  Still  current  among  us  are  sayings 
thousands  of  years  old,  like  Hesiod's  "  Half 
a  loaf  is  better  than  none,"  "Like  mother, 
like  daughter,"  "One  sows  and  another 
reaps,"  "Who  makes  a  trap  for  others  falls 
into    it    himself. 

Ideas  of  even  greater  importance  are  hand- 
ed down  in  like  manner.  To  their  power 
and  persistence  are  due  all  traditions  and 
prejudices  of  race,  nation,  community  or 
family;  and  on  a  larger  scole,  those  inherited 
feelings    which    hold    society    together.     The 


SUCCESSION  85 

tenacity  with  which  we  cHng  to  the  past  is 
seen  in  the  celebration  of  pubHc  and  private 
anniversaries,  gratifying  at  once  to  sentiment, 
pride  and  the  sense  of  duty  toward  those 
who  have  created  the  present  for  us.  So- 
ciety, with  its  ever-shifting  personnel,  would 
quickly  disintegrate  but  for  such  transmitted 
sentiments  which  strengthen  the  instinct  of 
cohesion. 

Similarly,  each  succeeding  age  lives  under 
institutions  which  have  in  large  part  come 
down  to  it  through  a  series  of  generations 
and  which  cannot  be  changed  without  great 
difficulty.  So  likewise  the  studies  of  one 
generation  are  largely  those  which  earlier 
generations  preferred,  even  if  new  ones  have 
become  relatively  more  important;  nor  is 
this  to  be  condemned,  for  it  maintains  a 
continuity  of  culture  which  Vv-ould  otherwise 
be  hopelessly  broken.  Thus  the  present  is 
firmly  linked  with  the  past  and  cannot  be 
separated  from  it  without  destruction.  In 
many  ages  no  more  useful  service  can  be 
rendered  than  the  saving  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  race  from  oblivion  or  from  injury. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  the  Byzantine 
empire  in    tlie   East  and    tlie  monasteries   in 


86  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  West  that  preserved  the  monuments  of 
ancient  culture. 

The  very  first  condition  of  social  develop- 
ment is  an  order  of  custom  or  precedent  that 
can  be  depended  upon.  Such  an  order  pre- 
cedes statute  law  and  is  of  much  broader 
range.  On  this  basis  the  great  bulk  of  the 
world's  work  is  carried  on,  quite  independ- 
ently of  formal  statutes.  Soon,  however, 
statute  law  is  added  to  custom  and  precedent 
and  the  three  together  become  an  essential 
condition  of  civilized  life.  The  corner-stone 
of  all  civilization  is  the  principle  that  legal 
rights,  whether  customary  or  statutory,  shall 
not  be  wantonly  or  capriciously  modified. 
At  every  moment  countless  numbers  of  men 
are  doing  business  and  making  and  accepting 
promises  because  of  their  faith  in  the  binding 
nature  of  a  contract.  Unless  they  could  be 
certain  that  contracts  would  be  enforced, 
business  would  be  thrown  into  confusion  and 
civilization  would  perish.  But  to  a  very 
great  extent  these  fundamental  obligations 
enforce  themselves  through  public  opinion 
and  individual  conscience. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  disregard  continuity 
and  to  revolutionize  a  people's  laws  by  the 
mere  enactment  of  a  new  code.     Repeated 


SUCCESSION  87 

but  fruitless  attempts  of  codifiers  to  accom- 
plish this  end  have  shown  that  legal  practices 
are  determined  by  historical  succession  and 
cannot  be  suddenly  revolutionized  by  indi- 
viduals or  groups.  This  is  a  lesson  which 
theorists  and  reformers  are  slow  to  learn. 
Their  tendency  is  to  disregard  history;  they 
overlook  the  power  of  custom  and  the  force 
of  actual  conditions,  and  fancy  that  any- 
thing and  everything  can  be  done  by  an  act 
of    the    legislature. 

Even  within  the  field  of  statute  law  the 
force  of  precedent,  that  is,  of  obligation  to 
the  past,  makes  itself  powerfully  felt.  Stat- 
utes have  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
previous  decisions.  Thus  the  influence  of 
the  individual  when  he  acts  in  accordance 
with  the  successive  method  sometimes  ap- 
pears in  a  striking  way.  It  is  well-known 
that  the  American  Constitution  was  an  ambig- 
uous document  as  adopted  and  would  not 
have  been  accepted  otherwise;  but  the  jus- 
tices of  the  Supreme  Court,  especially  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  continually  interpreted  it 
in  the  national  sense,  and  thus  gave  us  a 
nation  instead  of  a  confederacy.  The  State- 
Rights  doctrine  was  by  no  means  without 
some  foundation  in  the  Constitution,  but  it 


88  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

was  eliminated,  partly  by  decisions  forming 
precedents,  and  partly  by  a  military  debate 
of  four  years  duration.  And  as  for  the 
English  Constitution,  that  is  nowhere  written 
and  exists  solely  in  a  series  of  decisions  and 
precedents,  but  these  precedents  make  a 
very  efficient  constitution  nevertheless.  In 
religious  matters,  the  part  played  by  tradition 
has  been  of  even  greater  importance  than  in 
law.  The  Talmud  became  to  the  Jews  as 
binding  as  the  Law  of  Moses ;  to  the  Catholics 
certain  traditional  writings  have  been  deemed 
infallible.  Religious  traditions  in  both  be- 
lief and  practice  and  the  fear  that  departure 
from  them  would  be  injurious  to  society 
have  made  religions  the  most  conservative 
force  in -the  world. 

Society  must  always  provide  for  the  ful- 
fillment of  formal  obligations.  With  indus- 
trial security  in  the  earning  power  of  money, 
enforceable  laws  for  reclaiming  it  and  honest 
and  stable  governments,  the  appointment  of 
times  in  a  distant  future  for  maturity  of  debts 
or  fulfillment  of  contracts  or  payment  of 
legacies  becomes  more  prevalent.  Wills  are 
often  so  drawn  that  the  fund  bequeathed 
must  largely  increase  before  payment  and 
the    actual    carrying    out    of    the    testator's 


SUCCESSION  89 

plans  be  postponed  for  generations.  Frank- 
lin's thousand  pounds,  bequeathed  to  Boston 
to  be  used  when  it  had  increased  a  hundred 
fold,  has  created  at  the  end  of  a  century  the 
technical  school  which  bears  his  name.  The 
subject  of  individual  and  corporate  debts 
need  not  be  dwelt  upon.  In  like  manner, 
governments  have  taken  just  ]Dride  in  ful- 
filling obligations  inlierited  from  the  past. 
Alexander  Hamilton's  strong  personality 
firmly  estal:)lished  the  credit  of  the  United 
States  when  he  induced  Congress  to  guarantee 
the  eighteen  millions  which  represented  the 
indebtedness  of  the  individual  states.  Web- 
ster was  no  less  ardent  in  urging  that  citizens 
be  paid  the  French  spoliation  claims,  even 
then  of  fifty  years  standing  and  his  principles 
finally  triumphed  in  the  settlement  of  1885. 
In  1832  England  recognized  the  claims  which 
ages  of  slave  toleration  had  laid  upon  her 
and  reimbursed  the  owners  of  the  emanci- 
pated negroes.  Very  recently  she  has  ad- 
mitted the  debts  incurred  in  Ireland  by  seven 
centuries  of  landlord  domination,  and  has 
at  the  national  expense  made  it  possible  for 
the  Irish  farmer  to  become  the  owner  of  his 
native  soil.  For  fifty  years  the  United  States 
observed   the  increasingly  irksome   terms  of 


90  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  Clayton- Bui wer  treaty  until  Great  Britain 
at  length  gave  her  free  hand  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Panama  Canal. 

It  is  to  be  observed  however  that  the  duty 
of  fulfilling  the  ideals  and  obligations  of  the 
past  is  not  without  limitation.  What  might 
be  called  the  duty  of  progress  demands  that 
we  transcend  the  past  by  improving  both  its 
ideals  and  its  practices.  The  importance  of 
the  conservative  factor  in  society  is  manifest, 
but  the  proper  ideal  should  be  to  hold  fast 
all  that  is  good  and  only  that.  But  when 
conservatism  is  made  to  prosaibe  the  better 
and  to  resist  all  change,  then  the  duty  of 
progress  comes  into  play.  Then  it  is  that 
we  must  resist  the  past  and  introduce  a  new 
order.  For  tradition  is  forever  falling  be- 
hind the  times,  trying  to  put  new  wine  into 
worn-out  bottles,  vehemently  defending  it- 
self against  dead  enemies,  blind  to  present 
issues  and  future  perils.  Even  the  duty  to 
pay  the  debts  of  the  past  can  not  be  affirmed 
as  an  unconditional  obligation.  There  might 
conceivably  be  a  carnival  of  spendthrift  waste 
in  a  community  and  a  resultant  mortgaging 
of  the  future  which  would  become  too  heavy 
a  burden  to  be  borne.  The  deepest  obliga- 
tion of  the  community  in  this  matter  is  to 


SUCCESSION  91 

present  and  future  humanity  and  not  to  the 
past.  The  history  of  the  church  in  respect 
to  property  shows  that  circumstances  may 
arise  where  the  rights  of  humanity  take 
precedence  over  formal  rights  of  property. 
The  difficult  licensing  problem  in  England 
with  its  conflict  between  vested  rights  and 
the  desire  to  promote  sobriety  in  the  com- 
munity is  a  case  in  point.  The  laws  for- 
bidding long  entail  of  property  are  another 
illustration.  National  agreements  so  far  as 
they  are  concrete,  cannot  be  made  absolutely 
binding  forever,  and  international  treaties 
must  provide  for  modification  and  abrogation. 
The  second  special  use  of  Succession  in 
Time  consists  in  adjustment  to  the  present. 
Every  man  must  conform  to  the  time-table 
that  his  contemporaries  follow.  Religious 
custom,  the  oldest  of  communal  interests, 
shows  the  first  recognition  of  the  importance 
of  time-routine.  Indeed  one  of  the  original 
purposes  of  the  calendar  was  to  regulate  the 
services  of  religion.  Babylonia  and  Egypt 
first  used  celestial  observations  to  arrange 
the  festivals  of  the  gods,  and  holy  days  and 
sacred  anniversaries  are  still  matters  of  much 
significance  in  worship.  In  the  familiar  con- 
cerns of  domestic  and  social  routine  we  must 


92  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

arrange  our  lives  by  the  hour  hand  of  the 
clock;  often  by  its  minute  hand.  Every 
miner  in  the  union  had  to  drop  his  pick  at  a 
given  minute  when  John  Mitchell  gave  the 
signal  for  the  great  coal  strike  of  1902-3. 
In  the  business  world,  regularity  and  promp- 
titude are  increasingly  important;  and  the 
adjustments  of  time  become  even  closer  and 
more  exact.  A  man's  wealth  may  be  swept 
away  by  a  financial  crisis  precipitated  by 
another's  neglect  to  meet  his  obligations  on 
time;  and  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  stock 
exchange  vast  furtunes  often  hang  on  the 
issues  of  a  moment.  National  events  have 
been  similarly  conditioned.  Hobson,  as  he 
went  up  the  Santiago  channel  anxiously 
counted  the  five  minutes  more  or  less  which 
would  sink  his  freighter  where  it  might  bar 
the  escape  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  Saratoga, 
the  decisive  battle  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion Burgoyne  had  to  fight  alone,  because 
the  clever  plan  of  the  British  war  office, 
thrust  into  a  desk  by  a  secretary  hurrying 
to  his  holiday,  reached  Clinton  too  late  for 
him  to  perform  his  critical  part.  This  grow- 
ing importance  of  accuracy  tends  to  mul- 
tiply critical  moments  when,  as  in  operating 


SUCCESSION  93 

railway  trains,  if  exact  coordinations  are  not 
made,  the  results  may  be  disasterous. 

J)ut  the  chief  significance  of  Succession  in 
Time  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  enables  us  to 
determine  the  future.  The  system  of  natural 
law  in  the  |)hysical  world  of  course  carries  the 
results  of  many  of  our  actions  over  into  the 
future,  as  when  we  cut  down  a  forest  or  drain 
a  swamp  or  otherwise  alter  the  face  of  nature. 
But  we  are  considering  social  effects  rather 
than  physical  changes.  In  the  social  field, 
then,  the  same  order  of  custom,  tradition 
and  positive  law  which  we  have  already  dis- 
cussed makes  it  possible  for  us  to  project 
our  influence  into  the  future.  This  order 
fixes  expectation,  prescribes  conduct  and 
provides  the  general  social  bond  which  unites 
successive  generations  in  one  common  hu- 
manity. 

The  determination  of  the  future  thus  arising 
may  be  informal  or  formal.  It  is  informal 
when  a  present  intention  is  left  for  fulfillment 
at  the  will  of  a  later  generation.  It  is  formal 
when  provision  is  expressly  made  for  its 
realization.  In  either  case  the  practical  effect 
is  the  same :  the  act  of  the  individual  becomes 
binding  on  the  future,  of  course  within  the 
limits  of  good  sense  and  public  policy. 


94  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

An  example  of  the  informal  type  may  be 
seen  in  the  inauguration  of  new  political 
policies  for  posterity  to  carry  out.  Such  was 
the  formulation  by  President  Monroe  in  1823 
of  what  is  known  as  the  "Monroe  Doctrine." 
This  has  become  a  part  of  the  political  creed 
of  this  country  and  through  it  the  present 
recognizes  the  authority  of  the  past.  Until 
very  recently  the  far-reaching  importance  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  not  understood. 
But  it  has  won  an  established  place  in  our 
foreign  policy;  and  hereafter  no  statesman 
of  any  party  will  challenge  its  force  in  shap- 
ing the  relations  between  Europe  and  the 
United  States.  The  same  is  true,  in  a  lesser 
degree,  of  the  free-trade  policy  of  England, 
which  has  become  not  only  an  economic 
belief  but  also  a  political  instinct  that  Pro- 
tectionists find  it  extremely  difficult  to  modify. 
The  growth  of  the  sentiment  in  favor  of 
international  arbitration  affords  another  ex- 
ample of  the  informal  type.  To  the  Hague 
Tribunal  and  the  Interparliamentary  Union 
we  owe  the  crystalization  of  the  desire  for 
peace;  and  upon  their  decrees  and  policies 
will  depend  in  great  measure  the  history  of 
the  world  for  the  next  few  centuries. 


SUCCESSION  95 

Thus  in  this  informal  way  inlluence  extends 
in  time  somewhat  as  we  have  seen  it  extend- 
ing in  space.  Customs  are  formed,  puVjlic 
opinion  grow's,  precedents  are  estabUshed, 
expectations  become  vested  rights,  beHefs 
harden  into  creeds,  reUgious  practices  develop 
into  liturgies;  and  these  things  impose  them- 
selves inevitably  upon  the  future.  The  pre- 
cedents made  by  the  past  bind  us  and  the 
precedents  we  make  bind  the  future. 

Under  the  head  of  formal  determination 
of  the  future,  the  most  familiar  example  and 
the  most  important  socially  is  the  business 
contract  whereby  the  parties  bind  the  future 
within  certain  limits,  fixed  primarily  by 
custom  and  later  by  law.  Such  contracts, 
when  made  by  enduring  bodies  like  corpora- 
tions or  institutions  or  legislatures,  may  re- 
main in  force  for  very  long  periods,  unless 
they  run  counter  to  public  policy  or  unless 
changed  conditions  bring  them  into  obvious 
conflict   with   the   common   good. 

Sometimes  such  contracts  blend  with  less 
formal  obligations;  as  in  the  case  of  the 
cathedral  of  Milan,  where  successive  genera- 
tions for  six  hundred  years  honored  their 
implied  duty  to  carry  on  the  work  and  made 
long  contracts,  each  in  its  turn. 


96  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Under  the  head  of  formal  determination  of 
the  future  may  be  mentioned  also  the  trans- 
mission of  titles,  estates  and  family  honors. 
Historically  this  has  had  enormous  significance 
in  human  society.  A  Russell,  a  Cavendish, 
or  a  Spencer  in  England;  a  Montmorency,  a 
Broglie,  a  Motier  in  France;  an  Andressy  in 
Austria;  is  born  with  a  powerful  claim  to 
public  position.  Usually  in  order  to  retain 
this  advantage  the  descendants  must  in 
some  measure  justify  their  claim.  Still  it 
remains  true  that  the  eminence  of  their 
ancestors  has  given  such  men  special  priv- 
ileges which  society  does  not  disregard  with- 
out strong  reasons.  The  right  of  bequest  and 
inheritance  is  constantly  playing  a  larger 
part  in  society  as  more  and  more  persons 
are  able  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  It  frees 
many  of  the  rising  generation  from  severe 
economic  struggle  and  makes  possible  a 
larger  culture  and  a  greater  social  service. 
True  it  may  also  foster  idleness  and  corrup- 
tion; but  unless  the  world  has  been  moving 
in  the  wrong  direction  since  civilization  be- 
gan the  good  outweighs  the  harm. 

Legislation  in  general  is  chiefly  occupied 
with  formally  determining  the  future.  When 
wise  it  is  a  great  blessing;  when  unwise  it 


SUCCESSION  97 

is  a  curse.  Nations  have  never  been  taxed 
rich,  but  they  have  been  taxed  poor.  Legis- 
lation may  decide  whether  a  people  shall 
flourish  or  decay,  tience  there  is  a  growing 
tendency  in  political  science  to  inspect  more 
carefully  the  laws  which  determine  the  fu- 
ture and  to  limit  their  scope.  What  has 
already  been  shown  to  be  true  of  customs 
and  traditions  is  also  true  even  of  statutes 
and  legal  formulas.  For  example,  law^s  of 
bequest  and  inheritance  are  being  modified. 
The  right  of  entail  is  being  limited  to  a  short 
period.  Charters  of  institutions  bind  the 
future  but  not  unconditionally.  And  stat- 
utes themselves  are  subject  to  repeal  under 
changed  conditions.  The  same  is  true  of 
international  treaties  which  may  profess  to 
be  forever  binding  and  yet  are  set  aside  upon 
occasion. 

Such  facts  do  not  disprove  the  importance 
of  law  and  custom  and  contract ;  they  merely 
show  that  such  things  are  important  only 
for  what  they  help  us  to  do  and  can  never 
be  raised  into  absolute  and  everlasting  obli- 
gations. The  extent  to  which  one  may  be 
allowed  to  bind  the  future  is  an  unsettled 
problem  in  both  law  and  ethics.  To  forbid 
it  altogether  would  destroy  social  continuity. 


98  EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

To  make  it  absolute  would  give  the  "dead 
hand"  a  fatal  grip. 

In  essential  and  fundamental  matters  the 
future  could  not  throw  off  its  obligations  to 
the  present  if  it  should  try.  But  in  minor 
matters  each  generation  must  decide  for  it- 
self where  the  lines  should  be  drawn.  The 
present  must  not  mortgage  the  future  too 
heavily;  and  the  future  must  not  repudiate 
its  obligations  lightly  or  on  frivolous  grounds. 

To  sum  up:  the  individual  finds  himself, 
his  property  and  the  objects  of  his  interest 
in  the  midst  of  social  arrangements  of  time 
and  space  which,  by  nature  or  by  the  will  of 
those  who  have  gone  before,  have  obtained 
a  certain  degree  of  fixedness.  This  however 
adds  to  his  individual  responsibility  and 
importance,  rather  than  diminishes  it;  for 
although  he  must  in  a  large  part  take  these 
arrangements  as  he  finds  them,  yet  they 
readily  lend  themselves  to  his  designs  and 
become  the  media  of  his  influence.  His  life 
gains  symmetry  and  he  achieves  character 
according  as  he  adjusts  his  public  and  private 
plans  and  ambitions  to  the  social  order  al- 
ready established.  That  the  method  of  suc- 
cession seems  to  affect  the  routine  of  life, 
rather   than    its   spontaneous    activities    and 


SUCCESSION  99 

higher  ideals,  should  not  blind  us  to  its  vast 
importance.  Much  of  the  efiiciency  of  civil- 
ized life  is  due  to  succession,  for  it  is  by  the 
transmission  of  accumulated  knowledge  and 
experience  that  original  conduct  becomes 
possible  and  that  noble  ideals  are  capable 
of  fruition. 


CHAPTER  V. 
DIVERGENCE. 

Diffusion  and  Succession  are  the  elemen- 
tary and  fundamental  types  of  influence. 
They  are  the  foundation  of  all  the  higher 
types  and  reappear  in  them.  But  as  society 
develops,  social  action  passes  into  more  com- 
plex and  more  rational  forms.  In  this  way 
the  diffusive  and  successive  types  of  influence 
pass  into  the  divergent  type,  which  shows 
an  advance  in  the  systematic  control  which 
is  its  chief  characteristic. 

In  the  social  system  as  we  have  seen  hu- 
man nature  itself  provides  for  the  formation 
of  groups,  social,  civil  and  political;  and  as 
society  progresses  these  groups  multiply  and 
become  centers  of  radiating  influence.  An 
ungrouped  mass  of  human  beings  could  not 
exist  even  as  barbarians;  and  the  variety 
and  complexity  of  the  social  group  form  a 
sort  of  register  for  the  progress  of  civilization. 

This  tendency  in  human  nature  is  supple- 
mented   and    directed    by    various    physical 


DIVERGENCE  loi 

peculiarities  of  the  earth  itself.  Fertile  plains, 
convenient  harbors,  coast  lines,  mountain 
ranges,  river  courses,  mineral  deposits  and 
many  other  features  of  the  earth's  structure 
have  much  to  do  with  fixing  the  groupings 
of  society.  The  relation  of  the  earth  to 
man  as  a  pre-condition  of  civilization  does 
not  contain  a  full  account  of  human  history, 
but  it  furnishes  a  very  important  chapter. 
The  location  of  most  of  the  cities  of  the  world 
can  be  traced  to  some  favoring  physical 
circumstance  which  gave  that  particular  site 
preeminence  over  other  places. 

In  this  world  then  grouping  must  take 
place,  and  influence  will  diverge  to  corres- 
pond. City  groups,  tribal  and  political  groups, 
industrial  and  religious  groups,  will  form  a 
necessity  of  human  nature  under  existing 
conditions,  and  each  of  these  will  become  a 
center  of  radiating  influence.  For  such  in- 
fluence simple  diffusion  and  succession  are 
not  enough.  Neither  of  these  types,  or  both 
of  them  together,  provide  for  that  conscious 
direction  and  control  of  influence  which  is 
necessary  for  the  best  social  result.  When 
they  are  raised  to  the  plane  of  consciousness 
and  are  used  with  reference  to  ends  to  be 
reached,  we  have  arrived  at  a  third  type — 


102         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

that  of  divergent  influence.  This  is  really 
only  a  higher  plane  of  diffusion  and  succes- 
sion or  else  they  are  lower  types  raised  to  a 
higher  power  by  an  infusion  of  choice  and 
control;  but  it  is  sufficiently  distinct  to 
deserve  separate  treatment.  This  higher 
phase  however  is  necessary  to  any  worthy 
human  development.  Man  can  begin  with 
the  instinctive  and  spontaneous  activities 
of  his  nature,  but  these  reach  no  great  result 
until  they  are  subjected  to  conscious  and 
rational  direction. 

The  important  fact  in  divergence  is  that 
social  centers  form  and  that  influences  di- 
verge accordingly,  so  that  the  possibility  of 
control  is  greatly  increased.  A  power  lo- 
cated at  such  a  center  may  send  out  influences 
far  and  wide  along  divergent  lines  and  it  may 
also  control  them  so  as  to  make  them  much 
more  effective  than  they  would  otherwise  be. 

Now  the  effectiveness  of  divergence  de- 
pends upon  the  grade  of  social  organization. 
Divergent  influence  would  have  no  such 
range  in  Central  Africa  as  in  the  United 
States,  nor  in  an  unorganized  barbarian 
group  as  in  the  highly  complex  society  of  the 
modern  world.  But  as  social  grouping  and 
ease  and  extent  of  travel  increase,  the  pos- 


DIVERGENCE  103 

sibilities  of  divergent  influence  increase  in 
proportion.  Extension  of  commerce,  cheap- 
ness of  transportation,  industrial  and  com- 
mercial organization  and  combination  give 
opportunities  of  influence  unknown  and  im- 
possible to  earlier  social  stages. 

In  the  first  place  then  divergence  marks 
a  distinct  advance  over  the  methods  already 
studied,  because  its  control  over  the  forces 
of  the  system  works  economy  of  the  force 
expended.  A  system  operated  by  water- 
power  for  example  may  be  so  regulated  that 
if  the  mill  closes  for  repairs,  its  supply  of 
water  can  be  stored  for  future  use  or  diverted 
to  other  mills.  Similar  economy  is  practi- 
cable in  the  case  of  human  energy.  One 
business  head,  by  attending  only  to  such 
larger  questions  as  the  finding  and  develop- 
ing of  markets  and  by  delegating  authority 
to  capable  subordinates,  can  manage  an 
enormous  plant.  This  use  of  intermediaries 
works  economy  in  the  quality  as  well  as  in 
the  quantity  of  force,  for  it  allows  of  grada- 
tion and  the  employment  of  men  with  different 
talents.  In  Succession,  the  integers  all  stand 
on  the  same  plane  and  have  the  same  respon- 
sibility; in  Divergence  on  the  other  hand  the 


I04        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

central   integer   holds   a   unique   position   of 
great  power. 

Control  also  secures  uniformity  in  the 
results  accomplished.  The  individual  at  the 
center  of  a  divergent  system  can  remain  in 
effective  contact  with  distant  and  detailed 
operations  and  hold  them  firmly  within  the 
scope  of  his  plan.  He  can  be  sure  of  the 
outcome  by  simply  seeing  to  it  that  each 
force  does  its  appointed  work  at  the  proper 
moment;  and  minor  agencies  can  be  so  dis- 
tributed that  the  places  and  even  the  times 
of  their  activity  are  exactly  determinable. 
If  several  mines  are  to  be  fired  at  the  same 
moment,  all  the  sappers  and  miners  concerned 
must   have   instructions    from   headquarters. 

A  further  advantage  of  the  divergent 
method  is  that  it  provides  for  the  spread  of 
influence  in  an  orderly  manner.  Power 
through  divergence  equals  that  through  suc- 
cession multiplied  by  the  number  of  Hues 
which  radiate  from  the  center.  Furthermore, 
the  scope  of  influence  increases  with  the  dis- 
tance from  the  point  of  origin,  for  the  lines 
not  only  spread  more  and  more  as  they 
lengthen  but  as  in  the  example  of  the  water- 
system  they  ramify  indefinitely.  Thus  a 
strongly    centralized    industry    like    cotton- 


DIVERGENCE  105 

growing  or  tlie  production  of  oil  may  exert 
an  influence   that  is  practically  world-wide. 

We  now  pass  to  consider  the  forms  of 
divergence.  In  the  simplest  type  of  this 
method  the  divergence  is  unorganized;  the 
center  serves  only  as  a  source  from  which 
objects  of  social  influence  are  distributed. 
A  great  commercial  port  sends  out  its  mer- 
chandise along  well-defined  trade-routes  to 
all  quarters  of  the  world.  The  shippers 
determine  the  amount,  the  route  and  the 
destination,  but  the  freight  retains  no  bind- 
ing connection  with  the  center  of  distribution 
and  the  center  has  no  direct  control  over  the 
purchasers.  In  this  case,  the  individual  ex- 
erts merely  initial  control  over  the  operations 
of  the  system.  A  great  fair  establishes  a 
trading  system  in  Arabia,  and  from  this 
center  of  divergence  for  the  scattered,  iso- 
lated people  of  the  country  go  out  minor 
streams  of  traflic  and  more  important  still 
new  information  and  ideas  that  abide  and 
that  broaden  the  horizon  of  many  a  lonely 
dweller  by  some  green  oasis. 

More  important  is  the  distribution  of 
thoughts  and  customs.  This  is  seen  on  a 
small  scale  when  a  social  group  disperses  at 
the  close  of  some  meeting  of  unusual  charac- 


io6         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

ter.  The  members  of  the  group  return  to 
their  several  homes  taking  with  them  new 
ideas  which  they  have  received.  The  Bible 
Society  in  Constantinople  takes  advantage 
of  chance  gatherings  in  the  city  to  distribute 
to  the  visitors  copies  of  the  Bible,  which  thus 
pass  where  no  missionary  ever  goes.  In 
early  civilization,  the  distribution  of  culture 
was  largely  after  this  fashion.  Strangers 
from  a  distance  met  at  the  trading  posts  and 
along  the  routes  of  traffic,  and  profited  by 
an  exchange  of  information.  Thus  arts  and 
sciences,  knowledge  and  invention,  myth 
and  folk-lore  and  moral  ideals  were  mingled, 
enriched  and  redistributed,  to  form  the  be- 
ginning of  the  great  fabric  of  world-knowl- 
edge, world-skill,  world -literature  and  world- 
ethics. 

On  a  somewhat  higher  plane  stand  periodic 
radiations.  When  the  divergence  takes  on 
a  periodic  character  its  power  is  increased. 
Steamship  companies  come  to  establish  peri- 
odical times  for  sending  out  merchandise, 
mails,  tourists  and  emigrants  from  certain 
ports.  And  the  prestige  of  these  ports  is 
greatly  increased  by  regular  recurrence  of 
these  outgoing  influences. 


DIVERGENCE  107 

A  still  greater  center  of  distributive  in- 
fluence is  the  settled  community;  enduring 
as  it  does  from  generation  to  generation  it 
includes  and  transmits  to  its  surroundings 
many  social  interests,  impressing  upon  them 
its  characteristic  stam]:i.  Other  things  being 
equal,  the  larger  the  center  of  population, 
the  greater  its  influence.  But  other  things 
are  not  always  equal.  Some  cities  gain  in- 
fluence because  they  are  the  natural  centers 
of  thickly  settled  regions  or  because  they  lie 
at  the  crossing  of  great  avenues  of  trade. 
This  strategic  advantage  is  further  increased 
when  along  the  divergent  lines  of  transmis- 
sion there  are  sub-centers  which  mediate  the 
influence.  Thus  every  large  city  of  the 
present  day  is  surrounded  with  important 
suburbs  which  serve  as  minor  points  of  di- 
vergence for  the  storage  and  local  distribu- 
tion of  its  power. 

The  city  is  a  source  of  strong  and  inces- 
santly radiating  influence  for  the  towns  and 
villages  that  surround  it.  Its  life  is  forever 
affecting  the  country  by  a  process  of  diver- 
gence. In  some  matters  this  divergence  takes 
place  through  an  unconscious  absorption  of 
the  tone  which  prevails  in  the  city.  This 
is  seen  in  the  way  the  villages  reflect  the  city's 


io8        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

state  in  art,  music,  painting  and  sculpture; 
take  the  same  attitude  towards  literary  and 
scientific  culture  and  adopt  the  same  fashions, 
manners  and  customs.  In  some  other  mat- 
ters however  the  divergence  takes  place 
through  conscious  imitation  by  the  villages 
of  the  principles,  standards  and  methods  of 
the  city.  Then  a  change  in  the  business 
policy  of  the  city  leads  the  villages  to  infer 
that  the  change  is  wise  and  to  adopt  it. 

Sometimes  a  particular  city  may  acquire 
world-wide  influence  in  a  special  interest: 
London  and  New  York  are  the  great  money 
centers  of  the  world.  Their  commercial  in- 
fluence is  immense  and  their  financial  de- 
cisions are  felt  everywhere.  What  Paris 
decides  upon  in  matters  of  dress  become 
sooner  or  later  the  standard  for  many  different 
races  in  widely  separated  communities.  The 
very  mention  of  such  names  as  Babylon, 
Athens,  Jerusalem,  Rome,  Alexandria,  Flor- 
ence and  Cordova  reminds  us  of  the  profound 
and  widely  divergent  influences  which  these 
cities,  as  great  centers  of  learning,  art  and 
commerce,  have  spread  abroad  and  the  large 
part  they  have  played  in  creating  and  send- 
ing out  cosmopolitan  culture.  The  founders 
of  great  cities  therefore  have  had  tremendous 


DIVERGENCE  109 

influence  upon  civilization  lhrouL(h  this  fact 
of  divergence.  We  may  instance  Alexander, 
who  founded  Alexandria;  Seleucus  who  found- 
ed Antioch,  once  the  capital  of  the  East 
and  the  seat  of  the  first  Christian  cliurch; 
and  Constantine  who  gave  his  name  to  one 
of  the  greatest  cities  of  the  world. 

Yet  though  every  city  has  done  something 
for  civilization,  great  world-centers  that  have 
made  vast  contributions  to  human  welfare 
have  not  been  numerous.  When  we  try  to 
recall  the  names  of  centers  that  have  sent 
abroad  profound  influences  and  have  played 
very  conspicuous  parts  in  the  history  of 
cosmopolitan  progress,  we  can  think  of  only 
a  few  distinguished  names:  Athens  was  the 
great  center  of  philosophy,  art  and  culture; 
Rome,  of  legal  justice  and  equity;  Jerusalem, 
of    religion. 

So  far  we  have  studied  these  forms  of 
Divergence  in  which  outgoing  influences  are 
relatively  unorganized.  There  is  however  an- 
other group  of  divergent  processes  in  which 
the  individual  at  the  center  serves  as  a  com- 
manding head  and  maintains  unbroken  con- 
nection with  the  subordinate  agencies  in  the 
system.  This  group  includes  two  types  which 
we  may  call  association  and    incorporation. 


no         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

In  the  associative  type  the  system  is  organ- 
ized only  to  the  extent  of  being  united.  The 
individual  at  the  center  is  entrusted  with  a 
kind  of  temporary  chairmanship  in  order  that 
he  may  preside  at  meetings  and  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  the  members.  The  associates  are 
subject  only  to  a  joint-control  founded  on 
a  community  of  interests.  Thus  when  a  few 
congenial  persons  form  a  club  for  social  en- 
joyment, their  association  will  by  method  of 
divergence  tend  to  create  a  spirit  of  sociability 
in  the  whole  neighborhood.  Among  political 
associations  of  this  nature  none  has  made 
its  influence  more  felt  along  the  divergent 
lines  than  the  Jacobin  Club  of  Paris  in  the 
early  days  of  the  French  Revolution.  Though 
merely  an  unorganized  debating  group,  it 
served  as  model  for  similar  clubs  throughout 
all  France,  each  in  full  sympathy  and  im- 
mediate communication  with  the  mother 
body.  As  a  result,  the  vigorous  debates  at 
Paris  were  carried  along  many  divergent  lines 
at  these  local  centers  and  became  one  of  the 
most  powerful  influences  in  moulding  the 
thought  and  action  of  the  Revolution.  Asso- 
ciation for  cooperative  industry — a  feature 
of  the  present  age — or  for  reading  or  debate 
are   further   examples   of   this    type.     On    a 


DIVERGEXCE  iii 

higher  plane  is  association  for  the  puq^ose 
of  philanthropy,  art,  culture  and  moral  re- 
form. An  instance  of  this  is  Social  Settle- 
ment. From  such  centers  of  intellectual 
light  and  moral  life,  good  influences  radiate 
in  all  directions  and  work  powerfully  to  up- 
lift the  entire  community.  Thus  this  type 
comprises  a  large  number  of  the  lighter  mat- 
ters of  social  interest,  which  are  nevertheless 
of  vast  importance  in  forming  the  ground- 
work of  social  progress. 

It  is  only  in  the  incorporative  type  however 
that  the  peculiar  virtues  of  the  divergent 
method  are  fully  realized.  Here  a  responsible 
head  directs  the  entire  system.  Exercising 
the  highest  degree  of  control,  he  can  achieve 
far  reaching  results  with  the  minimum  of 
waste. 

This  has  become  a  commonplace  of  economic 
doctrine.  This  fact  explains  the  advantage 
of  business  combinations,  either  in  limited 
corporations  or  in  the  larger  combinations 
known  as  trusts.  Such  combination  results 
in  greater  unity  of  action  and  more  economical 
production  and  distribution.  It  is  in  the 
corporate  type  of  action  that  the  peculiar 
virtues  of  the  divergent  type  of  influence  are 
fully  realized.     Such  headship  is  the  very  life 


112         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  all  industrial  groups  and  without  it  labor 
would  be  relatively  impotent.  This  fact  is 
always  overlooked  by  those  who  fancy  that 
hand  labor  is  the  source  of  all  values ;  where- 
as in  truth  neither  labor  nor  capital  can 
accomplish  anything  of  magnitude  without 
the  organizing  and  controlling  mind  which 
is  the  soul  of  all  the  larger  social  and  in- 
dustrial operations.  The  organizer  and  mana- 
ger are  of  ever-increasing  importance  in  the 
modern  world.  The  immense  social  signifi- 
cance of  the  financial,  commercial  and  in- 
dustrial combinations  cannot  well  be  over- 
estimated. What  is  done  by  great  financiers 
in  such  money  centers  as  New  York,  London 
and  Paris  carries  weal  or  woe  to  the  ends  of 
the  civilized  world.  The  decisions  of  the 
head  of  a  great  manufacturing  company 
may  find  their  echoes  in  the  forests  of  Central 
Africa;  and  the  establishment  of  a  steam- 
ship line  may  mean  the  beginning  of  civiliza- 
tion to  a  great  country.  The  decisions  of  the 
presidents  of  such  great  corporations  as  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  and  Standard 
Oil  Company  are  world-wide  in  their  effects. 
Nor  is  this  true  only  in  times  of  industrial 
peace.  In  the  periods  of  stress  and  strain 
a  great  organizer  can  step  to  the  front  as  did 


DIVERGENCE  1x3 

Mr.  Morgan  in  1908  and  restore  to  the  fright- 
ened business  world  a  sense  of  security. 

Outside  the  industrial  field,  the  most  strik- 
ing illustration  of  the  corporate  type  is  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  Roman  hier- 
archy is  perhaps  the  greatest  single  force 
which  works  by  divergence.  The  Pope  is 
the  controlling  influence  in  a  vast  system 
whose  representatives  (all  obedient  to  the 
central  authority)  are  active  in  every  part 
of  the  world. 

But  in  considering  such  cases,  we  should 
never  forget  that  the  commanding  personality 
at  the  head  of  any  divergent  system  has  a 
representative  as  well  as  a  personal  function. 
He  controls  its  operations  in  the  light  of 
general  ideas  and  for  the  practical  good  of  all. 
Headship  therefore  is  not  opposed  to  social 
welfare.  The  evolution  of  society  naturally 
raises  certain  men  to  positions  of  authority 
which  are  theirs  by  right,  because  they  alone 
can  fill  them.  Such  an  individual  may  be 
no  stronger  physically  than  any  one  of  those 
whom  he  commands ;  but  his  mental  and  moral 
powers  are  sufficient  to  dominate  the  actions 
of  all.  The  interests  of  each  and  all  are  not 
endangered  by  this  tendency.  Rather  they 
are  guarded  and  fostered  by  it,  for  without 


EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH        114 

such  controlling  individuals  life  would  be 
headless  and  ineffective.  No  great  enterprise 
could  be  undertaken  and  even  democracy 
would  lack  the  power  that  guides  it. 

The  corporate  type  of  divergence  appears 
in  its  most  striking  form  in  government  itself. 
A  private  corporation  always  originates  in 
common  interest  and  joint  initiative,  but  gov- 
ernment maintains  its  control  over  forces 
which  are  sometimes  unwilling  to  submit. 
It  represents  the  consent  of  the  governed 
only  in  so  far  as  these  recognize  the  need  of 
some  authority  to  maintain  order;  and  the 
general  good  may  require  such  an  authority 
long  before  the  mass  of  men  desire  it.  Effi- 
cient government  therefore  demands  a  strong- 
ly centralized  control,  especially  when  the 
integers  of  the  system  are  scattered  and  local 
administration  is  feeble  and  poorly  organized. 
Such  control,  to  be  sure,  may  be  misused  or 
misapplied,  but  when  it  is  exercised  for  the 
good  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  it  frequently 
brings  about  a  national  regeneration.  A  re- 
markable instance  of  this  is  the  beneficent 
rule  of  Lord  Cromer  in  Egypt,  under  which 
the  people  are  recovering  from  centuries  of 
poverty  and  oppression.  They  are  becoming 
prosperous    farmers    and    workmen,    whereas 


DIVERGENCE  115 

before  they  were  iinenli^^htened  peasants;  not 
a  few  who  could  never  have  been  anything 
but  fanatical  fighters,  have  been  trained  to 
become  brave  and  efhcient  soldiers.  The 
work  of  Porfirio  Diaz  in  leading  the  Mexicans 
from  civil  discord  to  settled  constitutionalism 
is  of  a  similar  character.  From  the  President 
at  Washington  there  radiate  in  all  directions 
countless  economic,  military  and  other  in- 
fluences affecting  nearly  one  hundred  millions 
of  people,  of  different  colors,  races  and  creeds, 
and  in  all  stages  of  civilization,  from  the 
savage  of  the  Philippines  to  the  man  in  the 
forefront  of  culture  and  Christianity.  Most 
centrally  and  logically  organized  of  modern 
governments  is  that  of  France.  Nowhere  else 
does  each  local  center  feel  so  intimately  and 
decisively  the  action  of  the  national  executive. 
As  soon  as  it  had  been  decided  at  Paris  that 
the  state  would  resume  possession  of  its  church 
property  and  grant  the  use  of  it  in  future  only 
to  certain  religious  associations,  an  order  to 
this  effect  was  transmitted  by  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  to  each  of  the  prefects  who  are 
at  the  head  of  the  eighty-six  departments. 
They  in  turn  passed  it  on  to  their  subordinates, 
the  prefects  of  the  arrondissements.  They 
communicated  it  to  the  mayors  of  the  com- 


ii6         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

munes  through  whom  the  order  was  given 
effect.  By  the  logical  steps  of  a  perfectly- 
divergent  method  every  order  of  the  central 
government  operates  speedily  in  every  ham- 
let in  France. 

The  influence  of  an  individual  may  pass 
beyond  the  bounds  of  national  life.  Inter- 
national policies  are  growing  in  importance 
each  day.  For  a  new  departure,  caused  by 
the  influence  of  one  person,  has  sometimes  not 
only  reversed  the  policy  of  nations,  but  the 
practice  of  mankind.  In  former  times, 
prisoners  of  war  had  no  rights;  they  were 
robbed  and  murdered  at  the  caprice  of  their 
captors.  In  a  small  town  in  Holland  an 
earnest  scholar,  studying  to  abolish  this 
atrocious  custom,  was  led  to  frame  a  system 
of  international  law  founded  on  equity.  An 
exile  from  his  own  land,  he  became  a  law- 
giver to  all  nations  and  wrote  the  Magna 
Charta  of  the  world.  The  Hague  tribunal 
is  the  outcome  of  his  effort,  and  it  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  poet's  dream  of  a  federation 
of  the  world. 

This  tribunal  is  still  in  its  incipient  stage, 
but  it  is  destined  to  become  an  organized 
arbiter  of  nations.  Grotius  was  king  among 
kings  and  mightiest  of  them  all.     What  he 


DIVERGENCE  117 

dictated  sceptres  have  always  respected.  The 
uplifted  arm  in  the  hand  of  victory  dare 
strike  no  farther  than  he  has  prescribed. 
His  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword.  This 
principle  is  destined  to  control  war,  and 
eventually  to  suppress  it.  In  the  coming 
ages  the  foremost  man  in  the  organized  forces 
of  the  world  will  be  the  president  of  this 
tribunal  who  shall  give  a  casting  vote  for 
permanent  peace  on  earth. 

The  bearing  of  all  these  facts  upon  our 
fundamental  thesis  of  the  importance  of  the 
individual  is  manifest.  The  evolution  of  so- 
ciety creates  a  larger  and  larger  number  of 
divergent  systems  and  necessitates  an  ever- 
larger  social  control.  Such  machinery  of 
social  control  is  rapidly  increasing  with  the 
advance  of  civilization.  There  will  be  greater 
and  greater  demand  for  men  who  can  exercise 
power  at  the  centers  of  divergence.  Instead 
then  of  having  less  chance  for  power  with  the 
advance  of  civilization  the  individual  will 
have  vastly  more.  Knowledge,  ability,  and 
character  are  at  a  constantly  growing  pre- 
mium. The  opportunities  of  the  individual 
are  ever  multiplying  if  he  only  knows  how  to 
grasp  them. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CONVERGENCE. 

The  method  of  Convergence  is,  as  its  name 
impHes,  the  direct  opposite  of  the  divergent 
method.  It  includes  those  forms  of  social 
action  in  which  the  forces  spring  from  a 
variety  of  sources  and  meet  at  a  focal  point. 
The  individual  achieves  his  results  either 
through  the  combined  effort  of  himself  and 
others,  or  by  acting  upon  others  brought 
within  a  narrow  and  crowded  area  and  by 
controlling  the  convergent  forces  so  as  to  use 
them  for  his  own  ends.  Convergence  marks 
an  advance  over  previous  methods  because 
of  the  intensifying  of  force,  the  improvement 
of  integers  (the  individuals)  and  the  greater 
opportunity   for   leadership. 

First,  the  concentration  of  forces  at  a  single 
point  saves  friction  and  by  enabling  every 
factor  to  count,  it  is  practically  equivalent 
to  the  creation  of  new  forces.  Thus  it  enables 
small  talents  or  slender  means  to  share  in  a 
great  result  and  much  enhances  the  impor- 

ii8 


CONVERGENCE  119 

tance  of  the  average  man.  The  Three  Hun- 
dred at  Thermopylae  could  withstand  the 
Persian  hosts  because  their  strength  was 
concentrated  in  a  narrow  pass.  Aliens  in 
race  or  religion  do  no  harm  in  a  state  so  long 
as  they  remain  scattered;  but  once  brought 
together,  they  may  become  a  grave  menace  to 
the  public  welfare. 

Secondly,  while  in  Divergence  the  integers 
are  merely  rearranged,  in  Convergence  they 
are  improved.  If  social  beings  are  to  cooper- 
ate, they  must  adjust  themselves  one  to  an- 
other. Hence  convergence  implies  more  than 
mere  aggregation;  it  means  also  a  progressive 
combination  and  union  into  an  organic  whole ; 
and  with  such  organization  society  gains  in 
quality  and  powder.  The  value  and  efficiency 
of  each  member  is  increased  by  common 
knowledge,  mutual  emulation  and  social  dis- 
cipline. The  riff-raff  enlisted  in  the  English 
forces  in  the  eighteenth  century,  which  Well- 
ington called  "the  scum  of  the  earth"  was 
made  over  into  the  araiies  that  conquered 
India  and  shattered  the  empire  of  Napoleon. 

Thirdly,  control  of  convergent  operations 
calls  for  a  higher  order  of  leadership,  because 
some  unforseen  force  may  require  a  readjust- 
ment  of   the   whole   system   at   an   instant's 


I20        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

notice.  The  man  of  resource,  who  is  always 
ready  to  utiHze  whatever  forces  may  flow  in 
at  the  critical  moment,  is  now  in  demand. 
Unusual  delay  or  an  accident  may  disarrange 
all  schedules  at  a  railroad  terminus,  but  a 
capable  Superintendent  quickly  brings  order 
out  of  confusion  by  his  ability  to  effect  a 
readjustment.  Convergent  forces  at  the  com- 
mand of  a  leader  develop  his  natural  abilities 
and  give  him  complete  control  over  the  men 
who  keep  the  forces  in  operation. 

Convergence  and  Divergence  are  plainly 
complementary.  For  convergent  forces  have 
divergent  effects;  indeed  they  may  converge 
simply  for  purposes  of  future  divergence. 
In  our  own  day  the  convergence  of  so  many 
alien  peoples  at  our  ports  of  entry  gives  rise 
to  grave  social  problems  and  affords  oppor- 
tunity for  great  influence.  Baron  Hirsch 
founded  a  colony  at  Woodbine  New  Jersey 
where  newly  arrived  Jewish  immigrants  are 
temporarily  settled  until  they  get  knowledge 
of  our  language  and  institutions  and  learn 
improved  methods  of  agriculture  and  manu- 
facture. Then  they  are  sent  to  various  parts 
of  the  country.  In  such  cases  the  central 
operator  wields  the  united  powers  of  both 
methods.     The  trader  controls  both  the  in- 


CONVERGENCE  121 

coming  and  outgoing  of  his  goods.  The 
general  collects  his  troops  in  camp;  and  then 
sends  out  detachments  to  different  fields  of 
operation.  "All  roads  lead  to  Rome"  but 
the  same  roads  led  out  from  Rome  and  estab- 
lished  its  authority. 

Convergence  like  Divergence  may  be  either 
unorganized  or  organized.  Unorganized  con- 
vergence appears  in  the  way  produce  flows 
into  the  markets  of  a  large  city  or  commodities 
are  received  at  a  seaport.  The  massing  of  the 
raw  materials  of  trade  and  manufacture,  in 
New  York  is  an  example  on  a  gigantic  scale. 
In  1900,  such  materials  to  the  value  of  nearly 
$500,000,000  were  brought  thither  from  every 
Cjuarter  of  the  globe. 

Unorganized  social  convergence  is  seen  in 
the  crowds  attracted  by  such  casual  interests 
as  a  fire,  a  procession  or  an  accident.  These 
gatherings  however,  are  seldem  stable  enough 
to  accomi)lish  anything  of  permanent  value 
and  what  they  may  accomplish  can  be  neither 
predicted  nor  calculated.  One  crowd  is  trans- 
formed into  the  mob  that  sets  on  foot  a  revo- 
lution, another  serves  only  as  a  market  for 
the  street   vender. 

More  stable  and  effective  social  groups 
are   formed    by  festivals.     The   performance 


122        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  the  Passion  Play  at  Oberammergau  gathers 
together  every  ten  years  an  assemblage  which 
by  its  artistic  and  religious  enthusiasm 
helps  to  maintain  and  popularize  sacred 
drama.  Among  the  Greeks  a  periodic  as- 
sembling of  great  numbers  at  the  Olympic 
games  was  the  most  striking  evidence  of 
national  spirit  and  gave  to  the  athletes, 
poets  and  sculptors  their  best  opportunity 
for  widespread  influence.  Greatest  of  all 
such  festivals  is  the  annual  gathering  of 
pilgrims  from  all  over  the  East  pouring  by 
caravan,  rail  and  steamship  route  to  Mecca, 
for  a  common  expression  of  religious  loyalty 
at  a  common  shrine.  From  fifty  thousand 
to  three  hundred  thousand  men,  women  and 
children,  go  annually  on  pilgrimages  to  the 
great  shrine  of  Juggernaut.  And  although 
some  ten  thousand  of  them  die  on  the  road 
from  hardship  or  cholera  or  starvation,  the 
pilgrims  feel  that  their  elevation  of  soul  is  not 
too  dearly  purchased.  "  I  have  met  many 
there"  writes  Sir  William  Hunter  "who 
seemed  very  near   to   God." 

Still  more  permanent  are  the  social  con- 
vergences brought  about  by  a  great  leader, 
although  these  have  no  existence  apart  from 
him  and  are  likely  to  be  limited  by  his  life  and 


CONVERGENCE  123 

personal  influence.  A  great  thinker  or  a 
great  artist  will  gather  round  him  a  circle  of 
students  or  influence  a  scattered  body  of 
admirers,  so  that  master  and  disciples  become 
a  new  center  of  culture.  Thus  originated 
the  Greek  Schools  of  Philosophy.  Socrates 
by  the  searching  and  stimulating  questions  he 
put  to  the  Athenian  youth  drew  them  about 
him  and  set  the  example  which  Plato  and 
Aristotle  were  not  slow  to  follow.  When 
Abelard  began  to  lecture  for  himself,  students 
flocked  to  him  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  In 
their  eager  desire  to  share  his  intellectual 
treasures  and  gain  the  power  of  his  incisive 
logic  they  endured  manifold  hardships,  slept 
out  of  doors  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  lived  on 
poor  and  scanty  food.  The  "school"  had 
no  fixed  local  habitation.  Where  he  moved 
it  also  moved.  When  he  ceased  to  lecture 
its  members  dispersed.  In  our  own  day 
another  school,  quite  as  distinct,  has  been 
formed  by  the  followers  of  Tolstoi,  scattered 
all  over  the  world. 

The  place  of  the  city  in  the  civilization  of 
to-day  illustrates  the  influence  of  conver- 
gence in  all  its  varieties — organized  and  un- 
organized, purely  spatial  and  more  definitely 
moral  and   social.     Indeed   cities  being  per- 


124        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

manent  centers  of  population,  have  always 
been  peculiarly  important  as  points  of  con- 
vergence. They  have  arisen  as  the  result  of 
different  social  demands — the  need  of  defence 
perhaps  or  industrial  cooperation  or  the  de- 
sire for  common  worship.  Or  on  the  other 
hand  the  site  may  have  been  arbitrarily 
chosen  by  some  ruler,  as  was  the  case  with 
Constantinople,  Antioch,  Berlin  and  St. 
Petersburg.  Sometimes  the  location  afforded 
the  handiest  market  for  a  district  of  ex- 
ceptional fertility  or  of  mineral  resources. 
Frequently  the  site  was  selected  for  its  stra- 
tegic advantages.  Thus  Ravenna  on  the 
Adriatic,  just  below  the  southern  mouths  of 
the  Po,  was  protected  by  the  miles  of  shallow 
water  that  separated  it  from  the  sea.  The 
narrow  and  tortuous  boat  channels  leading 
to  the  city  were  marked  out  by  poles  which 
could  be  pulled  up  when  hostile  vessels  ap- 
peared. Venice  owed  its  origin  to  similar 
causes.  Old  Mycenne  was  well  situated  from 
both  the  military  and  the  commercial  point 
of  view,  for  it  dominated  the  land  route  from 
northern  to  southern  Greece.  The  commer- 
cial power  of  Carthage  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  commanded  the  passage  between  the 
eastern    and    western    Mediterranean.     Mar- 


CONVERGENCE  125 

seilles  owed  its  importance  to  a  situation  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Rhone,  along  which  passed 
much  of  the  trade  from  Gaul  and  the  north 
of  Europe.  Chicago  placed  as  it  is  has  in- 
evitably become  a  great  railway  center.  All 
such  advantages  are  increased  when  as  com- 
monly happens  other  towns  which  are  minor 
centers  of  convergence  grow  up  around  the 
main  city,  thus  forming  a  serial  reinforcement 
of  its  influence. 

Whatever  its  origin,  a  city  soon  becomes 
a  greater  center  through  the  interweaving 
of  various  interests,  economic,  military,  po- 
litical and  religious;  and  by  virtue  of  its 
historic  associations.  This  has  been  true  of 
Rome,  Bagdad,  Cordova,  London,  Paris  and 
especially  of  Babylon  which  was  made  by 
Hamurabi  the  convergent  center  of  both  the 
political  and  the  religious  forces  of  Western 
Asia  and  continued  to  hold  that  position  for 
some  fifteen  centuries.  Rome  although  first 
a  political  then  a  religious  center  was  never 
both  at  once.  When  it  was  the  political 
head  of  the  Empire,  its  Bishop  was  practically 
on  the  same  level  as  other  prelates;  and  by 
the  time  papacy  was  fully  developed  Rome 
had  lost  its  political  prestige.  Jerusalem,  at 
first  significant  as  a  strong  outpost  against 


126         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  Philistines,  came  to  be  thought  of  almost 
exclusively  as  a  sacred  city.  Centuries  after 
the  fall  of  the  Jewish  nation,  it  remained  the 
center  to  which  Hebrews  wended  their  way 
singing  their  hymns  of  faith ;  and  in  mediaeval 
times  it  was,  as  the  crusades  testify,  an  equally 
magnetic  point  for  Christians.  The  results  of 
this  convergence  of  Europeans  and  Asiatics 
at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  were 
momentous.  The  contact  of  so  many  dif- 
ferent peoples  all  imbued  with  high  religious 
zeal  was  one  of  the  greatest  moulding  forces 
in   European  civilization. 

All  organized  convergence  begins  with  some 
kind  of  association.  Even  if  the  organization 
be  incomplete,  yet  any  collection  of  persons 
may  become,  as  it  were,  a  single  body  active 
as  a  unit  for  a  common  purpose.  A  typical 
instance  is  the  political  club.  Its  members 
are  drawn  together  by  the  same  ideals  and  it 
affects  public  opinion  through  its  unity  of 
purpose  and  action.  Such  clubs  have  long 
been  an  important  element  in  national  life 
and  indeed  many  of  the  great  parties  have 
begun  in  this  loose  way.  Similar  associations 
are  common  in  ethical  and  religious  matters. 

But  organization  of  this  lax  and  demo- 
cratic nature,  though  peculiarly  suitable  for 


CONVERGENCE  127 

intellectual  and  moral  purposes — where  spon- 
taneity and  freed(j»ni  of  action  are  indis- 
pensable— is  insufficient  in  the  vast  and 
complex  world  of  affairs.  With  the  growth 
of  society  there  comes  an  increased  demand 
for  compact  and  highly  centralized  organiza- 
tion, for  the  vesting  of  control  and  respon- 
sibility in  a  few  men  of  chosen  capacity,  in  a 
word  for  incorporation.  Its  importance  is 
seen  in  the  way  in  which  the  united  savings 
of  many  persons  make  the  savings  banks 
and  insurance  companies  of  the  country  two 
of  its  most  potent  financial  factors.  Through 
this  convergent  union  small  sums,  which  taken 
severally  wotild  not  count  at  all,  become  a 
mighty  power  when  cared  for  by  expert  and 
honest  guardians.  A  recent  official  report 
shows  that  the  savings  banks  of  New  York 
state  alone  hold  money  enough  to  pay  the 
entire  national  debt  and  have  $84,000,000 
left,  although  the  largest  single  de])osit  is 
$3,000  and  the  average  only  $500.  The  same 
fact  appears  to  a  lesser  extent  in  the  incor- 
poration of  stock  companies. 

In  modem  times  organization  and  concen- 
tration are  especially  prominent  in  industry 
and  finance,  w^here  they  have  won  their  most 
brilliant    triumphs.     Here   executives   choose 


128         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

both  the  point  of  convergence  and  the  con- 
verging objects  and  forces.  A  manufacturer 
decides  at  once  on  his  raw  material,  his  ma- 
chinery, his  method  of  manufacture  and  his 
cHentage.  Financial  leaders  arrange  their 
compaigns.  Chambers  of  commerce  consult 
for  the  enlargement  and  direction  of  trade, 
the  finding  of  markets,  etc.  Firms  become 
corporations;  corporations  become  trusts; 
trusts  grow  into  syndicates.  Transportation 
lines  show  the  same  tendency.  Short  lines 
are  united  and  the  process  goes  on  until  we 
have  trans-continental  and  trans-oceanic  sys- 
tems merged  into  one,  so  that  the  traveler 
can  buy  his  ticket  at  a  neighboring  office  to 
almost  any  point  in  the  civilized  world. 

The  desire  not  only  for  gain  but  also  for 
dominance  and  monopoly  furthers  industrial 
association  and  carries  it  beyond  the  stage  of 
combination  of  persons  to  that  of  legal  incor- 
poration. In  law  a  corporation  is  as  it  were 
a  single  person.  Indeed  the  tendency  is  to 
give  great  corporations  over  to  the  charge 
of  a  president  and  directors  with  full  discre- 
tionary powers.  The  convergence  of  capital 
even  on  a  small  scale  has  tended  from  the 
first  to  draw  business  to  itself  and  to  make 
isolated  trade  or  manufacture  difficult.     Cor- 


CONVERGEXCE  129 

porations  profit  by  their  ability  to  purchase 
goods  in  large  quantities,  by  the  division  and 
specialization  of  labor,  by  superior  manage- 
ment, by  economy  in  incidental  expenses  and 
by  the   lessening  of  competition. 

An  extraordinary  instance  of  convergence 
in  business,  is  the  concentration  of  life-insur- 
ance companies  in  New  York.  In  1905  out 
of  a  total  in  the  United  States  of  ninety  three 
companies,  eighty  four  were  centered  there. 
They  carried  over  five  million  policies,  amount- 
ing to  $10,000,000,000  gross.  The  power 
wielded  by  those  who  control  the  gigantic 
surplus  accumulations  of  these  companies 
is  tremendous.  Again  the  convergence  of 
manufacturing  in  the  same  city  had  de- 
veloped more  than  twenty-seven  thousand 
separate  establishments  in  1900. 

Another  illustration  of  this  process  of  uni- 
fication is  the  organization  of  workingmen. 
Labor  unions  formed  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  their  members  and  to  secure  the 
right  of  collective  bargaining  with  employers, 
have  grown  into  huge  combinations  that  take 
in  whole  trades  and  extend  throughout  the 
country.  Some  of  them  even  aim  to  become 
international.     Here  again  there  is  the  ten- 


I30        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

dency  to  lodge  the  control  in  the  hands  of 
the  trusted  leaders. 

Sometimes  full  power  is  vested  in  a  head 
who  may  use  the  contributing  forces  without 
being  answerable  to  them.  Here  the  strength 
and  advantage  of  the  convergent  method 
are  enjoyed  to  the  uttermost.  The  several 
forces  are  progressively  unified  and  intensified 
until  one  powerful  force  replaces  many  weak 
ones.  Further,  the  power  of  a  system  general- 
ly increases  with  its  size.  The  larger  any 
business  becomes,  the  more  economically 
— at  least  up  to  a  certain  limit — it  can  be  man- 
aged; and  the  more  powerful  the  head  of  a 
system  becomes,  the  better  he  can  strengthen 
his  own  position.  When  power  reaches  a 
certain  point,  it  tends  to  become  autocratic; 
it  is  tempted  to  destroy  everything  that  stands 
in  its  way.  Thus  the  dangers  to  society 
from  industrial  centralization  are  very  great. 
Yet  corporations  in  spite  of  their  abuses 
protect  the  savings  of  the  individual  stock- 
holders, increase  the  national  wealth,  and 
render  public  services  which  would  other- 
wise be  impossible. 

War  offers  conspicuous  instances  of  power 
through  unification  under  a  single  hand. 
Wherever  the  art  of  warfare  is  highly  develop- 


CONVERGENCE  13 1 

ed,  enormous  authority  is  vested  in  the  com- 
manding officer  and  his  staff.  Thousands  of 
units  of  forces  are  so  distributed,  coordinated 
and  soHdified  that  they  become  a  single 
body,  obedient  to  the  dictates  of  a  single 
mind.  The  commanding  general  has  full 
control  of  his  forces.  He  plans  for  their  con- 
vergence, the  rate  of  their  speed,  and  the 
converging  points  towards  which  they  are 
individually  to  move.  Only  thus  is  success 
possible.  The  telephone  bound  together  all 
four  armies  of  Japan  during  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war,  and  kept  Field-Marshall  Oyama 
in  constant  communication  with  Nogi  at 
Port  Arthur  and  Kuroki,  Oku  and  Nodzu  in 
the  mountains.  An  army  directed  by  a  mass 
meeting,  or  a  debating  club,  would  be  a  mob; 
and  one  controlled  by  divided  authority 
would  not  be  much  better. 

In  civil  government  also  the  same  con- 
vergent method  is  followed.  Here,  as  was 
noted  under  Divergence,  the  forces  which 
supply  the  power  are  not  alwa3''s  in  agreement. 
One  class  or  section  of  the  country  needs 
industrial  opportunities,  or  foreign  connec- 
tions, which  would  be  harmful  to  another. 
Manufacturers  want  free  raw  materials  and 
a  tariff  on  the  finished  article.     Farmers  want 


132         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

manufactured  goods  to  be  cheap  and  pro- 
duce dear.  This  conflict  arose  in  England  in 
1842,  and  in  Germany  in  1904  and  in  our  own 
country  it  is  constant.  In  the  middle  ages 
Flanders  for  the  sake  of  its  markets  desired 
an  English  alliance.  This  Vv^as  unwelcome 
to  the  rest  of  France;  and  to  this  the  tragedy 
of  the  Hundred  Years'  War  was  largely  due. 
The  attempted  secession  of  the  Swiss  cantons 
in  1848,  of  Hungary  from  Austria  in  the  same 
year,  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  in  1 860-1, 
and  the  separation  of  Norway  from  Sweden 
in  1906,  are  other  examxples  in  point. 

In  dealing  with  cases  of  this  kind,  a  ruler 
must  rely  upon  the  convergences  of  the  sys- 
tem. He  secures  a  working  harmony  by 
massing  his  forces,  both  military  and  financial, 
and  by  employing  subordinate  leaders  trained 
to  act  with  skill  and  energy  in  these  conver- 
gences. The  barbarian  chief  who  puts  down 
revolt  with  ruthless  savagery  and  craft,  is 
succeeded  by  the  governor  of  a  mighty  na- 
tion— Elizabeth  or  Cromwell,  Walpole  or  Ham- 
ilton— who  uses  civilized  groupings  to  the 
same  end,  or  who  guides  his  people  to  grand 
destinies  by  means  of  the  internal  order.  He 
may  be  a  President  who  summons  a  Congress ; 
or  a  Speaker  of  the  House  who  can  largely 


CONVERGENCE  133 

control  legislative  action,  by  apportioning 
rights  of  speech  and  determining  the  business 
that  shall  be  done,  or  a  Supreme  Justice  to 
whom  is  referred  the  final  decision  of  cases 
involving  the  whole  future  policy  of  a  nation. 
The  creation  of  a  German  nation  out  of  small 
discordant  states  is  due  to  Bismark.  Work- 
ing cautiously  along  the  lines  of  commercial 
alliance,  using  Austria's  assistance  to  detach 
Schleswig  from  Denmark,  uniting  North  Ger- 
many in  the  triumphant  assault  upon  France, 
he  finally  unified  forces  which  for  centuries 
had  been  asunder  and  created  an  imposing 
empire. 

The  civic  conditions  of  the  present  are  the 
result  of  a  series  of  experiments  in  order  and 
liberty.  In  a  highly  developed  state  there 
must  be  large  freedom  of  personal  choice 
within  the  complex  organization  of  society. 
The  difficulties  that  beset  a  ruler  are  inherent 
in  his  very  function.  Government  must  on 
the  one  hand  show  a  wide  and  just  recog- 
nition of  the  varied  interests  of  the  common- 
wealth and  on  the  other  it  must  be  firm  in 
maintaining  order  and  stability  at  home  and 
honor  and  strength  abroad.  This  appears 
in  a  striking  way  when  we  note  the  contrast 
between  Russia  and  the  United  States.     The 


134         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Russian  system  has  been  the  government  of 
the  whole  by  a  part  and  for  the  benefit  of  a 
part.  The  result  has  been  internal  disaster 
and  stagnation  and  national  defeat  and  hu- 
miliation. In  America,  the  government  is 
controlled  by  a  highly  complex  public  opinion, 
and  is  at  the  same  time  bold  and  persevering 
in  its  policy.  The  result  is  that  the  United 
States  enjoys  general  prosperity  at  home, 
and  extraordinary  prestige  abroad. 

Yet  there  are  forces  far  wider  in  their  scope 
than  those  of  government:  the  general  forces 
of  civilization  which  also  have  their  conver- 
gent points.  Such  forces  are  inanimate,  ani- 
mate and  rational.  Now  they  are  detached 
and  operate  at  great  distance  from  each  other; 
now  they  unite  with  a  complexity  that  defies 
analysis.  Their  term  of  development 
stretches  far  beyond  the  limit  of  a  nation's 
life.  Hence  they  may  seem  to  run  parallel 
for  a  time  or  to  diverge  or  even  to  retrograde 
when  in  fact  the  whole  trend  of  their  opera- 
tions is  toward  some  remote  point  of  conver- 
gent influences. 

From  time  to  time  such  convergence  af- 
fords unique  and  striking  opportunities  for 
progress.  The  Renaissance,  for  example,  was 
due  to  the  convergence  of  several  great  forces. 


CONVERGENCE  135 

The  mariner's  compass  brought  the  two  ends 
of  the  old  world  together,  and  disclosed  new 
realms  for  trade  and  exploration.  Gun  pow- 
der gave  new  power  to  military  operations, 
and  destroyed  old  oligarchies.  Classic 
thouojht  and  classic  literature  revitalized  Wes- 
tern  Europe.  Science,  criticism  and  the  spirit 
of  religious  liberty  broke  from  their  ancient 
limits.  The  convergence  of  all  these  forces 
gave  to  the  world  Petrarch,  Michael  Angelo, 
Erasmus,  Luther,  Copernicus,  and  made  an 
era  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

As  these  forces  of  civilization  are  wider 
than  those  of  government  so  there  are  forces 
of  religious  influences  dee])er  than  those  of 
civilization.  These  also  have  their  points  of 
convergence.  The  development  of  new  truths 
and  principles;  unlooked-for  changes  in  the 
physical  and  social  world;  the  great  unseen 
influences  in  the  spiritual  world; — all  these 
in  their  appeals  to  the  imagination  and  the 
conscience,  to  hopes  and  fears  have  had  many 
convergent  points  in  the  history  of  Christian- 
ity. The  center  of  them  all  is  seen  at  the 
moment  when  Christianity  began. 

The  birth  of  Christ  is  the  greatest  converg- 
ing point  in  human  history.  To  him  all  the 
past  seemed   to  point.     The  Messianic  hope 


136        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  the  Jews  had  developed  until  it  was  shared 
by  the  whole  world.  The  Roman  Empire 
was  at  peace  and  society  was  prepared  for 
a  gradual  awakening.  The  Hebrew  tongue 
adapted  to  express  only  the  moral  and  re- 
ligious qualities  of  thought,  gave  place  to  the 
flexible  Greek  so  admirably  fitted  to  interpret 
the  significance  and  content  of  the  Hebrew 
religion  and  the  meaning  of  the  life  of  Christ. 
Greek  philosophy  had  reached  the  ideal  of 
the  perfect  man,  and  had  waned  and  had  be- 
taken itself  to  mysticism  and  theosophy 
without  being  able  to  point  to  a  single  indi- 
vidual who  might  be  regarded  as  realizing 
that  ideal.  The  world  was  hungering  for  a 
new  religion.  Men  were  resorting  to  strange 
rites,  to  the  teachings  of  moralists  and  philoso- 
phers, or  in  despair  were  giving  themselves 
up  to  a  cold  skepticism.  In  such  a  society, 
rich  already  in  aspiration,  the  early  preachers 
of  Christianity  found  many  who  were  eager 
to  listen  and  prompt  to  respond  to  the  an- 
nouncement that  in  Christ  would  be  found 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  of  life.  Such 
a  convergence  of  all  the  historical  forces  of 
a  period  can  hardly  have  been  fortuitous. 
It  never  had  been  seen  before  and  it  never 
has    been    repeated.     From    it    have    flowed 


CONVERGENCE  137 

most  of  those  influences  that  have  made  the 
Western  nations  what  they  are,  and  to  it  they 
must  ever  return  if  they  hope  to  attain  to  the 
highest  ideal  of  humanity. 

Thus  we  see  in  the  world  a  great  system  of 
converging  and  organizing  forces;  and  these 
grow  through  their  convergence  and  union. 
The  modern  man  finds  himself  in  the  midst 
of  a  complete  system  that  offers  great  oppor- 
tunity for  the  gifted  individual.  Never  be- 
fore was  he  in  such  demand  and  never  before 
was  he  so  imperatively  necessary.  This  sys- 
tem in  no  way  oppresses  the  ordinary  in- 
dividual and  no  one  would  be  benefited  by 
its  passing  or  abolition.  The  man  with  one 
talent  can  never  play  the  part  of  the  man 
with  two;  but  he  can  do  more  with  his  one 
talent  than  ever  before,  provided  he  does  not 
bury  it. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GERMINATION. 

The  four  types  of  influence  thus  far  dis- 
cussed— Diffusion,  Succession,  Divergence  and 
Convergence — all  might  conceivably  exist  in 
a  universe  where  everything  began  ready 
made.  But  in  the  actual  world  nothing 
relating  to  man  begins  in  its  mature  form. 
It  is  a  living  and  growing  world  and  that 
not  merely  in  the  organic  realm  but  also  in 
the  realm  of  the  intellect  and  of  society. 
Minds  grow,  ideas  develop,  institutions  unfold. 
Thus  we  arrive  at  a  fifth  type  of  influence, 
which  we  may  call  Germination. 

The  powers  of  a  germ  are  the  efficient  and 
moulding  forces  in  the  growth  of  all  living 
creatures.  In  a  chestnut  that  is  beginning 
to  germinate,  there  is  first  the  germ  itself; 
second  the  protoplasm  which  is  the  accom- 
panying substance  of  its  development;  third 
the  quickening  influences  of  moisture  and 
heat  and  eventually  of  light ;  fourth  and  most 
important  of  all,  the  peculiar  unseen  vital 
138 


GERM  IS  A  TlOX  139 

power  of  the  germ  to  mould  all  the  constituent 
elements  into  the  generic  character  and  form. 
When  the  albumen  is  absorbed  the  germ 
assimilates  elements  of  growth  from  the  soil 
and  atmosphere.  The  centre  of  the  stalk 
dies  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  and  is  her- 
metically sealed  from  decay  by  the  encircling 
bark  in  which  all  vitality  resides.  In  the 
second  year  this  also  becomes  dead  material 
added  to  the  supporting  trunk.  But  the 
process  of  unfolding  the  dead  W'Ood  in  living 
tissue  continues.  Annular  increments  are 
added  to  the  trunk  and  to  the  supporting 
roots.  Life  exists  only  in  the  succulent 
rootlets,  in  the  membranes  of  the  inner  bark 
and  limbs  and  twigs  and  in  the  tissues  of  the 
leaves  and  buds.  And  this  hidden  life  is 
always  identical  with  the  germ.  Precisely 
the  same  process  may  be  traced  in  the  develop- 
ment of  an  animal.  The  increments,  to  be 
sure,  are  not  so  visible  or  so  distinct  as  in  the 
case  of  a  tree,  yet  they  are  strikingly  intimated 
in  the  growth  of  the  chambered  shell  of  the 
nautilus. 

The  analogy  of  spiritual  and  social  growth 
to  physical  growth  is  obvious,  as  we  have 
seen  in  treating  the  Social  System..  In  Ger- 
mination then  we  have  a  new  type  of  influence. 


140         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Into  it  other  types  do  indeed  enter,  but  it 
nevertheless  transcends  them  all  since  it 
rests  upon  a  special  fact  in  the  nature  of 
things  which  they  by  themselves  do  not 
imply. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  Germination 
is  its  power  to  transform  the  materials  which 
it  uses.  A  seed  assimilates  the  nutriment 
which  surrounds  it,  so  that  this  becomes  a 
vital  part  of  the  growing  thing  and  contrib- 
utes to  its  life.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the 
growing  mind  which  transforms  experience 
into  character,  and  of  the  developing  idea 
and  the  unfolding  institution  which  mould 
and  transform  the  thought  and  action  of 
society. 

The  spread  of  influence  by  the  method  of 
Germination  shows  a  great  advance  over 
previous  methods  in  the  proportion  of  effect 
achieved  to  effort  expended.  The  power 
of  the  individual  is  immeasurably  increased 
since  he  is  not  obliged  to  create  new  forces 
at  every  step  or  to  bend  to  his  will  the  physical 
forces  of  nature,  such  as  heat  or  gravity  or 
electricity.  He  need  only  sow  the  seed  and 
its  development  follows  without  further  effort 
on  his  part.  In  silence  and  without  obser- 
vation the  unfolding  goes  on  until  perhaps 


GERMIXATIO.y  141 

a  new  way  of  thinking  has  taken  possession 
of  men's  minds  or  a  new  social  order  is  es- 
tablished. Thus  though  the  direct  contribu- 
tion of  the  individual  may  be  slight  his  in- 
fluence is  enormous  because  he  is  in  alliance 
with  the  building  forces  of  the  universe. 

The  possible  relations  of  the  individual 
to  the  processes  of  Germination  are  two:  he 
may  plant  the  seed;  or  he  may  foster  the 
growth  that  has  already  begun.  Both  of 
these  relations  must  be  borne  in  mind  in 
discussing  the  several  types  of  influence 
which  come  under  this  head.  Three  such 
types  ma}^  be  distinguished:  first,  germina- 
tion in  the  individual  when  influence  is  exerted 
through  the  growth  of  a  single  human  being; 
second,  germination  by  descent  when  influence 
depends  upon  reproduction;  and  third,  the 
germination  of  ideas  and  institutions. 

The  first  type,  germination  in  the  indi- 
vidual, owes  its  importance  to  the  long  in- 
fancy of  the  liuman  being.  The  lower  ani- 
mals soon  arrive  at  the  fullest  maturity  of 
which  they  are  capable,  but  in  man  the  plastic 
period  lasts  for  a  score  of  years  so  that  a 
high  degree  of  education  becomes  possible. 
The  experience  of  the  world  is  well  expressed 
in  the  saying  of  the  priest,  "  Give  me  a  child 


142        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

until  he  is  twelve  years  old  and  I  care  not 
who  may  have  him  afterwards."  Most  of 
our  cherished  convictions  began  in  assent 
to  the  opinions  and  practices  of  family  and 
community;  and  our  sympathies  and  habits 
date  back  to  our  early  years.  It  is  a  striking 
fact  that  in  old  age  memory  reverts  to  child- 
hood days,  and  recalls  those  experiences  with 
far  more  vividness  than  the  experiences  of 
later  years.  This  plasticity  and  passivity 
are  necessar}^  lor  moulding  the  child  into  the 
likeness  of  the  community,  and  for  keeping 
the  social  gains  which  the  past  has  made. 

Childhood  then  is  a  critical  period  both 
for  the  individual  and  for  society.  Con- 
fucius, it  is  said,  reverenced  children  for  what 
they  might  become,  and  "  to  corrupt  the 
youth"  is  a  crime  that  has  always  been  held 
in  special  abhorrence.  Each  of  us  in  truth 
is  under  a  heavy  responsibility,  for  our 
lightest  word  or  least-considered  act  may 
seriously  affect  some  growing  life.  Much  of 
what  is  called  moral  heredity  is  simply  the 
effect  of  environment  upon  a  plastic  and 
defenceless  nature.  Most  of  our  cherished 
convictions  were  originall}^  derived  from  oth- 
ers. Ideas  and  sympathies  acquired  in  early 
years  tend  to  grow  fixed  and  stable.     They 


GERMIXATIOX  143 

become  the  dominant  motives  of  the  mature 
man  and  through  him  they  may  determine 
the  poHcy  of  parties  or  of  nations.  Hamilcar, 
the  Carthaginian  leader  in  the  first  Punic 
war,  seeing  that  his  long  resistance  to  the 
Romans  had  been  in  vain,  bequeathed  the 
task  to  his  son.  The  vow  which  he  is  said 
to  have  caused  the  young  Hannibal  to  swear 
at  the  altar  pledged  him  to  undying  hostility 
to  Rome.  In  his  life-long  fulfillment  of  his 
oath  Hannibal  attacked  the  Romans  in  Spain, 
descended  upon  them  across  the  Alps,  hu- 
miliated them  repeatedly  at  their  own  gates 
and  in  his  last  years,  helpless  at  Carthage, 
stirred  up  against  them  warfare  in  Asia. 
Alexander  the  Great  was  roused  to  martial 
valor  by  reading  when  a  boy  the  stories  of 
Achilles  in  Homer.  Napoleon's  admiration 
of  Alexander's  Asiatic  expedition  fired  him 
with  a  desire  to  emulate  him  by  the  conquest 
of  India.  Francis  Drake  in  his  youth  ac- 
companied Captain  Hawkins  on  a  trading 
expedition  to  the  West  Indies.  At  San  Juan 
d'UUac  they  took  refuge  from  a  storm,  where 
a  Spanish  fleet  which  they  had  allowed  to 
enter  the  harbor  attacked  them  in  violation 
of  a  sacred  agreement.  Drake  barely  escaped 
in   a   shattered   vessel.     There   and    then   a 


144        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

desire  for  revenge  was  born  in  him.  He 
harried  the  commerce  of  Spain,  destroyed 
her  colonial  tewns,  fought  her  navies  and 
took  part  in  the  destruction  of  the  Armada. 
William  Penn's  career  was  settled  by  a 
chance  occurrence  in  his  youth.  Stopping 
in  the  street  to  listen  to  one  Loe,  an  itinerant 
preacher,  he  was  so  much  affected  by  Loe's 
doctrine  that  he  refused  to  attend  the  ser- 
vices in  his  own  college.  A  second  meeting 
made  Penn  a  confirmed  Quaker. 

Thus  the  permanent  disposition,  ideals  and 
habits  of  mature  life  are  largely  the  result  of 
actions  to  which  little  attention  was  given 
at  the  time.  Character  is  to  a  less  extent 
than  we  commonly  suppose  the  consequence 
of  deliberate  and  conscious  choice.  It  is  due 
in  the  main  to  the  accumulation  of  acts  and 
interests  arising  out  of  the  demands  and  needs 
of  the  life  about  us,  and  interpreted  and 
moulded  by  the  trend  given  to  the  mind  by 
formative   influences   in   youth. 

The  most  signal  opportunities  for  this  kind 
of  influence  are  enjoyed  by  those  who,  like 
parents  and  teachers,  maintain  a  constant 
and  watchful  contact  with  growing  lives. 
The  influence  of  the  parent  begins  earlier  and 
is  continued  longer  than  that  of  the  teacher; 


GERMINATION  145 

it  is  also  less  formal  and  more  intimate  and  is 
re-enforced  by  the  impulses  of  natural  affec- 
tion. There  is  comparatively  little  formal 
teaching  in  the  home ;  influence  depends  main- 
ly on  example  and  atmosphere.  No  amount 
of  instruction  will  overcome  bad  parental 
example,  and  no  course  in  the  catechism  will 
undo  the  influence  of  a  selfish  and  worldly 
household.  Only  second  to  the  home  in- 
fluence is  that  of  the  teacher.  By  the  truths 
he  teaches,  the  example  he  holds  up,  the  order 
of  his  school,  his  personal  bearing  and  more 
than  all,  by  what  he  is,  the  teacher  wields 
the  scepter  of  power.  In  the  field  of  higher 
education,  the  teacher  enjoys  the  prestige 
of  scholarship  and  the  opportunity  of  impres- 
sing the  best  youth  of  the  land  at  the  very 
age  when  they  are  making  the  most  momen- 
tous choices  of  their  lives.  Such  a  teacher 
often  wields  an  influence  even  beyond  that 
of  parents.  When  the  developing  mind  is 
first  finding  itself,  or  getting  its  bearings  in 
the  strange  world  into  which  it  has  been  born, 
it  often  passes  through  a  period  of  yeasty 
fermentation  in  which  self-assertion,  doubt 
and  vague  and  obscure  impulses  and  long- 
ings mingle  in  hopeless  confusion.  And  par- 
ents often  lack  the  intellectual  breadth  and 


146        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

comprehensive  sympathy  needed  for  deal- 
ing with  such  cases.  Then  it  is  that  the 
great-minded  and  large-hearted  teacher  has 
his  supreme  opportunity.  It  is  this  fact  that 
gives  the  great  teacher  even  national  impor- 
tance. The  school  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant institutions  of  the  civilized  state;  and 
the  teacher  is  the  school. 

But  after  all,  the  individual  is  his  own 
most  constant  guide;  for  in  the  end  he  is 
largely  the  outcome  of  his  own  early  decisions. 
These  determine  his  habits,  his  associations, 
his  character.  In  the  growth  of  the  soul 
opposite  classes  of  desires  appeal  to  the  will, 
clamoring  for  indulgence.  The  soul  may 
grow  in  either  of  two  directions,  while  the 
tree  or  the  body  can  grow  in  but  one.  If  the 
impulses  are  nearly  balanced,  a  slight  in- 
fluence on  the  right  or  wrong  side  will  turn 
the  scale.  The  scale  once  turned,  there  is  a 
tendency  to  a  repetition  of  the  same  choice. 
One  class  of  desires  gains  strength  as  the  other 
weakens.  This  is  something  like  the  growth 
of  two  trees  from  the  same  root.  If  the  growth 
of  one  is  arrested  by  some  accident,  the  other 
receiving  more  nourishment  grows  more  rapid- 
ly. The  gratified  desire  of  the  soul,  good  or 
bad,    becomes   dominant    and   finds   kindred 


GERM  I. \  A  TION  147 

desires  that  cluster  round  it  and  help  to 
establish  its  supremacy. 

This  brings  us  to  a  second  and  still  more 
important  type  of  germination;  namely,  ger- 
mination of  descent. 

The  problem  of  heredity  is  obscure,  and 
in  its  philosophical  aspects  is  far  from  being 
satisfactorily  settled;  but  certain  facts  are 
sufficiently  clear  for  our  present  purposes. 
Some  measure  of  physical  heredity  is  un- 
deniable. Nobody  expects  to  raise  maples 
from  acorns.  Every  stock-breeder  has  con- 
fidence in  the  transmission  of  characteristic 
traits  in  cattle;  and  every  farmer  or  nursery- 
man shows  the  same  faith  when  he  tries  to 
raise  better  vegetables  or  to  produce  new 
varieties  of  plants.  An  individual  in  one 
generation  is  born  with  certain  tendencies, 
aptitudes  and  powers  which  will  probably 
be  repeated  in  subsequent  generations.  Fur- 
thermore, we  know  that  any  individual  may 
supply  modifications  which  are  still  further 
developed  in  the  generations  that  follow. 
Thus  when  one  individual  influences  another, 
he  affects  not  only  the  actual  life  of  that 
second  individual  l)ut  also  his  posterity. 
These  are  causes  which  operate  in  determin- 


148        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

ing  the  growth  of  family,  national  and  racial 
traits. 

The  principle  of  heredity  has  in  human  life 
an  importance  which  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated. All  physicians  recognize  a  "dia- 
thesis" of  physical  constitution.  One  does 
not  indeed  inherit  health  or  disease  specific- 
ally but  rather  a  constitution  immune  from 
certain  disorders  or  else  predisposed  to  them. 

Turning  to  the  causes  of  direct  social 
significance  we  find  that  many  families  have 
possessed  special  aptitudes  for  certain  lines 
of  practical  or  intellectual  effort.  Philip  of 
Macedon  succeeded  at  an  early  age  to  a 
disputed  crown,  and  to  a  kingdom  beset 
by  foreign  enemies  and  weakened  by  the 
turbulence  of  the  nobles.  Yet  he  soon  se- 
cured himself  against  deposition  or  revolt, 
placed  the  country  beyond  attack  and  began 
his  career  of  conquest.  In  twenty  years  he 
was  practically  master  of  Greece  and  of  the 
whole  of  the  Thracian  peninsula.  His  son 
Alexander  the  Great  after  ruling  for  thirteen 
years  held  sway  over  an  empire  which  in- 
cluded most  of  the  civilized  world  east  of 
Italy.  Ptolemy  I.  said  to  be  Alexander's 
half  brother,  founded  the  Grecian  kingdom 
of  Egypt,   the  best  administered  of  all  the 


GERMINATION  149 

minor  governments  into  which  the  empire 
broke  up  after  Alexander's  death,  and  became 
the  progenitor  of  a  wonderful  dynasty  of 
kings  and  queens.  Pyrrhus  of  Epirus  of  the 
same  stock  as  Alexander,  was  one  of  the 
ablest  rulers  and  generals  of  his  day.  The 
family  was  therefore  remarkable  for  its  ability 
to  rule.  No  sooner  had  the  Northman,  Rollo, 
been  presented  w'ith  Normandy  in  911,  than 
he  and  his  successors  began  to  make  it  the 
best  administered  part  of  France.  Finding 
the  duchy  too  small  a  field  for  their  ability 
the  Norman  Dukes  crossed  to  England  which 
straightw'ay  leaped  ahead  of  other  countries 
in  national  and  institutional  development. 
Much  of  England's  greatness  is  due  to  the 
ability  of  the  Norman  family  which  ruled 
with  so  stern  and  wise  a  sway.  The  family 
of  Charlemagne  including  Pepin  and  Charles 
Martel;  and  that  of  the  Vases  including 
Gustavus  Adolphus  and  Charles  X.,  furnish 
other  examples  of  hereditary  genius  for  king- 
ship. 

In  the  sphere  of  art  we  meet  with  the 
notable  instance  of  the  Bachs.  This  wonder- 
ful family,  incomparably  the  greatest  example 
of  hereditary  genius  of  which  we  know, 
continued  from    1550   for  two   hundred   and 


I50        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

fifty  years,  through  eight  generations,  reach- 
ing its  culmination  in  the  sixth  generation 
with  Sebastian  Bach.  No  fewer  than  twenty- 
nine  members  of  this  family  were  musicians 
of  eminence  and  twenty-eight  more  are 
thought  worthy  of  notice  in  biographical 
dictionaries.  The  family  held  regular  re- 
unions one  of  which  (about  1750)  was  at- 
tended by  one  hundred  and  twenty  members, 
all  musicians. 

A  remarkable  instance  of  the  transmis- 
sion of  great  mental  power  is  that  of  the 
Edwards  family  in  New  England.  "  Out  of 
fourteen  ^hundred  descendants  of  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  his  wife  Sarah  Pierrepont, 
during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  cen- 
turies, there  were — to  speak  approximately — 
five-score  lawyers,  of  whom  thirty  became 
judges;  five-score  clergymen  or  professors  of 
theology;  five-score  professors  in  colleges,  of 
whom  thirteen  becamxC  college  presidents; 
six-score  and  fifteen  books  written  by  authors 
within  the  family  stock;  five-score  persons 
in  public  ofiice,  of  whom  six  v/ere  governors 
of  states  or  United  States  senators;  three- 
score physicians;  eighteen  editors;  seventy- 
five  mien  in  the  army  or  navy;  and  out  of  not 
far  from  seven  hundred  men  of  this  stock, 


GERMIXA  TlOX  i  5 1 

one  hundred  and  twenty  graduates  of  Yale 
College."  A  summary  of  the  history  of  a 
family  of  radically  different  type  may  be 
quoted  from  the  same  author.  "  Out  of 
twelve  hundred  descendants  in  one  line  the 
detailed  story  of  seven  hundred  is  known: 
only  twenty  learned  a  trade,  of  whom  ten 
learned  it  in  prison;  seven  were  murderers; 
sixty  professional  thieves;  one  hundred  and 
thirty  were  criminals;  three  hundred  and 
ten  were  paupers:  four  hundred  and  forty 
were  viciously  diseased.  The  thieving,  trials 
and  prison  life  of  this  family  stock,  the  main- 
taining of  their  women  of  evil  habits,  the 
cost  of  disease  and  loss  of  wages,  amounted 
in  a  period  of  seventy-five  years,  in  which 
statistics  were  available  to  $1,308,000.""  In 
such  cases,  of  course,  the  development  of 
native  capacity  for  good  or  evil  is  due  largely 
to  the  special  circumstances  of  family  life; 
but  the  capacity  itself  is  innate.  Aptitudes 
that  are  traditional  in  a  family  will  be  fostered, 
and  others  will  be  neglected.  And  here  the 
influence  of  the  individual  is  multiplied.  He 
affects  posterity  not  only  directly  but  also 
through  the  environment  in  which  his  off- 
spring are  reared.  His  immediate  progeny 
will  tend   to  develop  those  aptitvides  which 


152        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

conditions  favor,  and  these,  once  developed, 
will  determine  the  environment  of  succeed- 
ing   generations. 

Facts  of  this  kind  are  legion  and  can  be 
found  in  endless  profusion  in  the  standard 
works  on  the  subject.  They  are  summed  up 
in  the  familiar  proverb:  "Blood  will  tell." 

Heredity  appears  on  a  broader  scale  in 
national  and  racial  traits.  There  are,  to  be 
sure,  such  differences  in  the  same  tribe  that 
one  might  be  tempted  to  say  that  they 
cover  every  possible  variety.  But  if  a 
number  of  persons  belonging  to  one  race  are 
placed  beside  the  same  number  of  persons 
belonging  to  another,  we  see  at  once  how 
much  deeper  and  more  significant  are  the 
racial  than  the  individual  traits.  No  one 
c©uld  mistake  an  Indian,  a  Mongolian,  a 
Negro  or  an  Eskimo  for  a  European. 

There  is  much  evidence  that  racial  heredity 
is  not  merely  physical,  but  moral  and  psy- 
chological as  well.  Here  however  the  tes- 
timony of  observed  facts  is  somewhat  ambig- 
uous. It  is  not  clear  to  what  extent  such 
traits  of  mind  and  soul  are  due  to  inheritance 
and  how  far  they  are  determined  by  environ- 
ment and  education.  But  for  our  present 
purpose  the  question  is  unimportant  for  in 


GERMINATION  153 

either  case  the  influence  of  the  intUvidual 
operates  by  what  we  have  called  the  germinal 
method.  Whether  by  way  of  direct  heredity 
or  by  way  of  training  and  of  what  may  be 
tenned  the  "atmosphere"  of  the  home,  ances- 
tors are  largely  responsible  for  the  character 
of  their  descendants.  On  the  rocks  in  many 
parts  of  New  England  are  to  be  found  glacial 
marks.  The  glaciers  have  receded  or  entirely 
disappeared  but  the  marks  remain.  Similarly 
far-away  ancestors  have  left  their  markings 
on  the  men  and  women  of  today.  The 
"dead  hand"  is  extended  in  blessing  or 
clutches  in  a  fatal  grip.  This  fact  of  heredi- 
tary influence  is  so  stupendous  that  we  can 
but  wonder  that  such  power  should  have 
been  given  to  men. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  germination 
in  the  life  of  the  individual.  We  must  now 
pass  to  consider  it  as  a  social  fact  or  in  other 
words,  we  must  study  the  germination  of 
ideas    and   institutions. 

Ideas  and  institutions  like  all  things  hu- 
man are  subject  to  the  law  of  growth.  This 
results  necessarily  from  the  nature  of  life 
itself.  Men  are  not  abstract  speculators 
dwelling  in  a  vacuum;  they  live  in  the  midst 
of   practical   interests   for   which    they   have 


154        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH. 

to  make  provision..  Hence  their  thinking  is 
mainly  born  of  practical  needs,  in  an  attempt 
to  adjust  themselves  to  the  order  of  nature. 
Geometry  did  not  begin  as  the  science  of 
pure  space,  but  as  the  art  of  land-measuring. 
Arithmetic  did  not  begin  as  the  doctrine  of 
pure  number,  but  as  a  means  of  making 
small  routine  calculations.  Yet  the  whole 
structure  of  mathematics  is  a  development 
from  these  feeble  beginnings.  And  so  it  has 
been  with  social  customs  and  institutions. 
They  were  not  minted  like  coins  by  one  stroke 
of  the  die;  but  they  have  in  them  marks  of 
growth  as  trees  show  age  by  their  annual 
rings.  Indeed  germinal  ideas  and  institu- 
tions are  curiously  like  physical  organisms, 
in  that  at  the  start  they  often  give  little  in- 
dication of  their  final  form.  All  fledglings 
are  helpless,  and  social  fledglings  are  no  ex- 
ception. 

Development  then  is  the  law  of  both  mental 
and  social  progress.  We  note  this  in  the 
growth  of  formal  knowledge.  The  history  of 
philosophy  is  full  of  striking  instances  of  the 
gradual  unfolding  of  germinal  ideas.  The 
teaching  of  Socrates  developed  into  the  ideal- 
ism of  Plato,  and  the  mysticism  of  the  Neo- 
Platonists.     Aristotle's  system  developed  in- 


GHRMIXATIO.y  155 

to  the  scholasticism  of  the  middle  ages. 
Locke's  speculations  j)roduced  the  idealism 
of  Berkeley,  and  ended  in  the  nihilism  of 
Hume.  Descartes  had  Spinoza  and  Leibnitz 
for  lineal  descendants.  Kant's  Critique  is 
the  fountain  of  modern  philosophy.  Ben- 
tham's  Utilitarianism  is  one  great  source 
of  modern  law.  In  physical  science  the 
methods  and  discoveries  of  Galileo  grew  into 
the  science  of  mechanics.  Adam  Smith's 
speculations  on  the  laws  of  trade  remade 
the  science  of  economics. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  illustrate  the 
workings  of  the  germinal  method  in  the 
great  system  of  human  society,  and  in  the 
development  of  the  thoughts  and  ideas  that 
mould  and  govern  the  world  we  live  in.  All 
such  germinal  processes  are  of  course  origi- 
nated by  individuals.  The  inventions  too 
that  have  transformed  modern  life  go  back 
to  individual  men  of  genius,  whose  influence 
abides  with  us  in  growing  3^ears.  Whitney 
still  gins  our  cotton  and  Hargreaves  spins 
our  yam.  Watt  works  through  the  steam 
engine;  Stephenson  drives  our  locomotives; 
Fulton  commands  the  fleets  of  all  nations. 
In  this  way  the  ideas  that  have  built  up 
civilization  go  back  to  lonely  and  little  known 


156        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

thinkers  who  now  as  "sceptered  sovereigns 
still  rule  us  from  their  urns."  Social  move- 
ments may  likewise  be  traced  back  to  the 
individual.  The  Sunday  School  is  due  to 
Robert  Raikes;  the  Society  of  Friends  to 
George  Fox;  the  Methodists  to  Wesley;  the 
Reformed  Churches  to  Calvin. 

The  same  principle  of  germinal  growth 
appears  in  the  history  of  institutions,  and 
enables  society  to  advance  by  adapting  itself 
to  new  conditions. 

Illustrations  of  minor  importance  are  legion. 
Banks  have  germinated  from  places  of  safe 
deposit  or  from  guarantors  of  coin  values 
or  from  remitters  of  money  or  from  financial 
companies  to  float  government  loans.  And 
they  have  finally  become  agents  for  in- 
vestment and  providers  of  industrial  capital. 
Craft  guilds  have  germinated  into  huge  mu- 
tual-benefit organizations  like  the  Masons 
and  Odd  Fellows,  with  craft  lines  obliterated. 
Libraries  have  germinated  from  small  col- 
lections of  books  stored  up  for  a  few  scholars 
into  great  annexes  to  the  system  of  popular 
education.  The  Kindergarten  system  has 
grown  to  be  a  great  factor  in  elementary 
education. 


GERMINATION  157 

The  evolution  of  the  jury  system  affords 
an  especially  good  example.  Originally  wit- 
nesses, chosen  for  their  knowledge  of  the  facts 
in  dispute,  the  jurors  have  become  judges 
of  facts  submitted  to  them  by  others;  and 
the  jury,  originally  an  instrument  of  the 
royal  administration,  has  become  one  of  the 
effective  guarantees  of  popular  liberty.  Yet 
throughout,  the  representative  character  of 
the  jury  has  been  maintained,  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  local  representation  which  it  embodies 
also  germinated  in  another  form  into  the 
representative  system  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. The  germinative  process  is  again  seen 
in  the  history  of  universities,  which  developed 
out  of  the  cathedral  schools  of  the  Middle 
Ages  so  gradually  that  it  is  in  many  cases 
impossible  to  fix  the  exact  date  of  their  es- 
tablishment, and  have  continued  to  grow 
and  adapt  themselves  to  new  conditions  of 
knowledge  and  social  environment.  Eccle- 
siastical institutions  show  similar  growth. 
Monasticism  is  a  striking  illustration,  and 
even  the  church  itself  comes  under  the  same 
law. 

The  entire  theory  of  development  as  ap- 
plied to  the  human  race  in  history  illustrates 
and   enforces   the   importance   of   ideas   and 


158        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

institutions  that  have  in  them  the  power 
to  Hve  and  to  grow.  In  germinating  and 
planting  such  ideas  and  institutions  the  in- 
dividual exercises  a  great  and  lasting  influence 
upon  society. 

The  germ  implanted  by  a  single  monk, 
Saint  Benedict  of  Nursia  grew  into  an  in- 
stitution beneficent  for  all  v/estern  Europe. 
At  Monte  Cassino  in  Italy  he  drew  up  a  rule 
which  imposed  upon  the  monks  along  with 
the  vows  of  poverty,  chastity  and  obedience, 
the  necessity  of  daily  work  both  manual  and 
mental.  This  rule  leavened  the  then  exis- 
tent monastic  life;  the  missionary  era  soon 
following  saw  it  prevalent  in  Italy,  France, 
Spain,  England  and  Germany.  Thus  the  idle 
asceticism  of  the  East  was  avoided,  and  the 
monasteries  became  pioneers  in  civilization, 
improvers  of  agriculture,  centers  of  industry 
and  conservatories  of  learning. 

In  the  modern  world  the  ideas  of  John 
Marshall  have  been  the  seed  from  which  the 
present  judiciary  of  the  United  States  has 
grown.  Chosen  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
when  its  functions  were  vaguely  defined,  he 
at  once  claimed  for  it  dignity  and  authority 
as  final  interpreter  of  the  law;  and  competi- 
tive  principles   sketched   in   his   famous   de- 


GERMINATIOX  159 

cisions  have  been  expanded  and  api'licd  until 
today  the  Court  is  perhaps  the  most  authori- 
tative body  in  the  country.  Not  only  in 
judicial  affairs  have  Marshall's  ideas  been 
thus  fruitful,  but  they  have  been  potent  in 
strengthening  the  fabric  of  the  Union.  When 
the  doctrine  of  States  Rights  sought  to  hedge 
in  National  prerogative,  Marshall's  decisions 
did  most  to  extend  it  and  to  create  an  organi- 
zation and  a  sentiment  which  survived  civil 
war.  His  principles  continue  to  mould  the 
judicial  and  political  spirit  of  each  new  state 
added  to  the  Union. 

The  germinal  development  is  most  impres- 
sive when  we  can  study  two  antagonistic 
principles,  working  systematically  but  in  op- 
posite directions,  and  observe  the  difference 
in  their  results.  Such  diverse  tendencies  are 
well  illustrated  in  the  contrasted  histories  of 
Luther  and  Loyola.  Martin  Luther  grew  to 
maturity  VN-ith  his  mind  warped  by  the  super- 
stition of  the  mediaeval  church.  He  had 
been  taught  to  yield  unquestioning  obedience 
to  his  superiors,  in  all  matters  of  religious 
belief  and  practice.  Becoming  convinced 
after  a  mighty  spiritual  struggle  that  this 
was  an  erroneous  principle,  he  abandoned  it 
and  asserted  the  right  of  private  judgment 


i6o        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

instead.  This  position  works  a  radical  change, 
even  if  it  is  appHed  to  mere  matters  of  ordi- 
nary prudence,  but  if  the  new  principle  is 
made  a  permanent  rule  of  conscience — if  it 
is  extended  to  the  relations  of  the  soul  with 
the  Unseen  One  and  consequently  to  all 
views  and  practices  in  the  moral  and  re- 
ligous  life — ^it  assumes  a  magnitude  that  is 
startling.  For  the  right  of  private  judgment, 
once  adopted  in  spiritual  questions,  naturally 
extends  to  manifold  questions  of  life  common 
to  the  individual  who  holds  it  and  to  all  his 
neighbors,  whether  they  hold  it  or  not  and 
hence  it  must  eventually  become  the  ruling 
principle  of  every  free  state.  In  fact,  this 
one  principle  conceived,  argued  and  applied 
to  life  by  that  one  man,  was  a  germ  which 
has  been  growing  for  centuries  in  society  and 
institutions.  It  has  shaped  the  religious  be- 
lief and  the  ecclesiastical  organization  of  all 
Northern  Europe,  and  it  has  crossed  the  sea 
to  establish  a  new  continent.  In  civil  policy 
it  has  been  no  less  effective  and  has  shown 
itself  to  be  the  only  principle,  perfectly  or 
imperfectly  developed,  by  which  free  institu- 
tions can  long  exist.  Thus  the  obscure  monk 
of  Erfurt  has  shaped  the  destiny  of  nations 


GERM  I  \' AT  ION  i6i 

by  his  great  ])rii"iciple  of  the  right  and  duty 
of  individual  judgment. 

Eight  years  after  the  birth  of  Luther  an- 
other great  leader  was  born.  He  propounded 
a  theory  which  was  the  direct  opposite  of 
Luther's  principle.  He  conceived  a  religious 
order  in  which  all  the  members  should  be  in 
complete  subjection  to  the  head.  Military 
despots  recruit  their  armies  from  all  parts 
of  their  realm;  Loyola  drew  his  adherents 
from  every  nation.  He  scrutinized  the  hid- 
den inclinations,  passions  and  capacities  of 
each  prospective  member  of  his  society. 
The  process  was  repeated  and  tabulated  until 
the  fitness  of  every  man  to  be  his  instrument 
was  assured.  He  not  only  drew  from  a  wider 
area  than  kings  do,  but  he  penetrated  more 
deeply  into  the  secret  forces  of  men's  souls. 
Not  only  was  the  adherent  to  obey  his  su- 
perior without  question,  but  the  conscience 
itself  was  brought  into  unconditional  sub- 
mission. Young  men  were  skilfully  appealed 
to  and  were  enlisted  for  the  support  of  the 
great  system.  All  classes  of  society  were 
represented  in  the  service:  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  cultivated  and  the  ignorant.  Mon- 
archs  were  attracted  to  the  confessional  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  their  consciences  were  con- 


i62        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

trolled  by  Loyola's  servants.  His  obedient 
disciples  were  assigned  to  multiplied  objects 
of  industry,  of  colonization,  of  charity,  of 
education.  At  last  they  were  able  to  shape 
the  legislation  and  to  dictate  the  diplomacy 
of  the  great  Catholic  Powers  of  Europe.  All 
these  complex  forces  were  subservient  to  a 
single  despotic  head,  to  whom  every  member 
had  vowed  unquestioning  submission  and 
obedience.  For  two  centuries  the  plan  con- 
ceived by  that  one  mind  kept  growing,  until 
it  held  more  powerful  sway  than  the  sceptre 
of  a  king  in  command  of  vast  armies.  It 
saved  whole  realms  to  the  Roman  church; 
it  gave  political  character  to  governments; 
it  shaped  and  controlled  the  education  of 
scholars,  of  missionaries  and  of  statesmen. 
A  soldier  without  arms  became  a  despot 
without  a  throne  and  by  the  natural  growth 
of  one  germinal  idea  brought  millions  of  men 
into  subjection  of  action,  mind,  heart,  will 
and  conscience  itself  to  his  absolute  sover- 
eignty. 

To  be  sure  men  in  the  rank  and  file  can- 
not hope  to  exert  such  influence  as  the  great 
leaders.  But  nevertheless  the  germinal  order 
of  life  affords  everyone  an  opportunity  to 
act   as   a   quickening   or  transforming   force 


GERM  IX  AT  ION  163 

in  his  own  family  or  neighborhood.  And  his 
work,  though  it  may  pass  without  notice, 
can  never  be  wasted.  It  must  enter  into 
the  life  of  the  community  and  continue,  ever 
developing,  to  the  end  of  time.  The  general 
conception  of  evolution  has  taken  permanent 
possession  of  modern  thought.  Past,  present 
and  future,  are  indissolubly  bound  together 
by  one  law  of  growth.  Thus  the  individual 
man  of  the  present  day  has  a  deeper  and  fuller 
sense  both  of  the  past  and  of  the  future. 
He  knows  that  he  himself  is  reaping  where 
others  have  sown;  and  he  sows  in  his  turn, 
with  confidence  that  the  germinal  processes 
of  civilization  will  bring  his  efforts  to  fruition 
in  the  ages  to  come. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CORRELATION. 

The  several  types  of  influence,  as  we  have 
seen,  depend  on  special  features  of  the  given 
system  which  makes  them  possible.  Dif- 
fusion depends  on  the  initiative  and  social 
nature  of  man;  Succession  depends  on  the 
spatial  and  temporal  form  of  life ;  Divergence 
and  Convergence  depend  on  conscious  direc- 
tion and  control;  Germination  depends  on 
the  fact  of  a  living  and  growing  world.  But 
these  types  do  not  exhaust  the  modes  of 
influence. 

The  sixth  and  last  method  by  which  the 
individual  exerts  his  influence  is  that  of 
Correlation. 

Since  society  is  an  organic  system,  a  living 
whole  whose  parts  are  mutually  dependent, 
its  welfare  is  inseparable  from  the  welfare 
of  all  the  persons  or  classes  or  groups  which 
compose  it.  The  good  of  each  is  the  good 
of  all,  and  if  one  member  suffers,  all  the 
members  suffer  with  it.  It  is  this  fact 
164 


CORRELATION  165 

of  mutual  dependence,  this  vital  connec- 
tion of  men  in  the  social  system,  which 
makes  the  Correlation  type  of  influ- 
ence possible.  xMl  thinj^^s  work  together, 
either  in  harmony  or  with  discord;  so  that 
action  at  any  point  finds  quick  response  at 
other  points  in  some  other  forni  of  action 
or  reaction.  Thus  when  a  new  law  is  passed 
or  a  new  social  movement  is  begun,  far- 
reaching  consequences  result  because  of  the 
interdependence  of  the  social  factors.  Sim- 
ilarly the  acceptance  of  a  new  principle  in 
politics  or  religion  works  vast  changes  in 
society,  because  of  the  correlation  of  thought 
and  conduct. 

Now,  the  basal  fact  in  any  correlative 
system  is  organization.  This  enables  the 
parts  to  work  together  according  to  a  common 
idea  or  law\  In  the  inorganic  world  we  have 
correlation  in  the  making  and  working  of 
machines,  where  parts  are  correlated  accord- 
ing to  the  inventor's  idea  so  as  to  belong 
together  and  work  together.  In  the  organic 
world  we  have  such  a  thorough  correlation 
of  parts  and  organs  that  Kant  defined  the 
organism  as  something  in  whicli  every  part 
is  at  once  end  and  means, — that  is,  every 
part  is  correlated  with  every  other  and  exists 


1 66        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

for  and  through  every  other.  In  the  physio- 
logical realm  we  have  correlations  of  an  in- 
timate and  vital  sort.  There  is  the  correla- 
tion between  the  mind  of  man  and  his  body. 
The  condition  of  the  body  vitally  affects  the 
state  of  the  mind,  and  conversely.  And 
within  the  mind  itself  there  is  a  vital  correla- 
tion of  thinking  and  feeling  and  willing. 
Within  the  social  sphere  too  correlation  pre- 
vades  all  our  relations  with  others  in  friend- 
ships and  organizations. 

The  several  types  of  human  influence  are 
not,  as  we  have  already  noted,  mutually  in- 
dependent, but  they  form  a  series  in  which 
the  lower  pass  into  the  higher,  and  are  raised 
to  greater  efficiency  by  being  correlated  with 
the  higher  types  in  one  inclusive  system. 
They  all  take  on  new  possibilities  as  they 
are  unified  and  made  to  work  together  in 
harmonious  coordination.  Diffusion  may  be 
correlated  with  succession,  as  in  the  spread 
of  given  political  or  social  ideas  in  space 
and  time;  divergence  with  germination,  as 
in  the  growth  of  civilization  from  intellectual 
centres;  convergence  with  diffusion,  as  in 
reports  of  a  rich  mining  district;  and  with 
succession  and  divergence,  as  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  railroad  centre.     In  short,  any  one 


CORRELATION  167 

operation  may  be  so  adjusted  to  other  opera- 
tions as  to  enable  an  individual  to  call  forth 
the  total  power  of  them  all  or  the  whole 
power   of   the   system. 

The  full  significance  of  Correlation  as  a 
type  of  influence  appears,  however,  only 
when  society  has  reached  some  degree  of 
development.  The  political  correlations  of 
the  modern  state  would  have  been  impossible 
in  a  savage  tribe  and  the  financial  correla- 
tions of  the  business  world  were  needless 
wlien  a  few  bushels  of  wampum  or  some 
barrels  of  glass  beads  were  currency  enough 
for  a  continent. 

Society  to-day  is  both  more  complex  and 
more  unified  than  ever  before.  And  both 
its  complexity  and  unity  are  due  to  close 
and  manifold  correlations,  which  embrace 
industry,  politics  and  morals,  and  are  inter- 
national  in    their   scope. 

The  correlative  type  of  influence,  then,  is 
characteristic  of  modern  civilization.  It  is 
higher  than  other  types  which  we  have  been 
studying.  Indeed,  by  its  operations  in  so- 
ciety, it  utilizes  and  perfects  them  all.  Dif- 
fusion sujoplies  the  elements  of  contact  and 
social  conduction;  succession,  those  of  ar- 
rangement   and    order;  divergence,    those    of 


i68        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

control  and  spread;  convergence,  those  of 
mass  and  union;  germination,  those  of  growth 
and  reproduction;  but  correlation  employs 
all  these  elements  and  organizes  them  into 
the  highest  possible  effectiveness.'^' 

In  our  complex  modern  civilization  there 
are  several  different  kinds  of  correlative  in- 
fluence, sufficiently  distinct  and  important 
to  deserve  particular  illustration. 

The  first  type  may  be  called  indirect  action. 
In  mechanics,  power  may  be  transmitted  by 
connecting  one  lever  with  others,  so  that  a 
push  of  the  hand  on  the  first  will  move  them 
all.  If  we  do  not  command  a  position  from 
which  we  can  throw  rays  of  light-  on  a  given 
point,  we  may  reflect  the  rays  by  means  of 
a  mirror,  and  in  this  indirect  manner  may 
illuminate  the  point  desired.  An  irritant 
inflames  the  body  at  the  point  of  application; 
but  it  may  also  have  a  counter-effect  on 
inflammation  elsewhere  and  thus  defend  the 
vital  parts.  The  failure  of  a  capitalist  may 
affect  one  corporation  directly  and  other 
corporations  indirectly.  The  inculcation  of 
moral  truths  in  a  community  has  its  direct 
result  in  good  habits  and  its  indirect  result 
in  financial  prosperity. 


CORKI'-LATIOX  160 

The  military  commander  seldom  makes  a 
direct  attack.  He  seizes  some  point  which 
threatens  the  enemy's  communications,  or 
despatches  an  army  to  attack  at  another  point 
in  order  to  compel  a  retreat.  Scipio  forced 
Hannibal  out  of  Italy,  not  by  attacking  him 
there  Vnit  by  carrying  the  war  into  Africa. 
This  forced  the  Carthaginian  to  hasten  home, 
lest  his  chief  base  of  supplies  should  be  cut 
off  and  lest  the  country  for  the  sake  of  which 
he  was  operating  in  Italy  should  be  ruined. 
The  blow,  though  aimed  at  one  spot,  was  to 
have  its  greatest  effect  in  another. 

Indirect  action  is  further  illustrated  in  the 
principle  of  mediation.  One  individual  often 
finds  that  he  cannot  act  directly  upon  another 
but  that  he  can  accomplish  his  purpose 
through  a  third  party  who  acts  upon  the 
second.  When  a  man  cannot  be  reached 
directly,  he  can  often  be  reached  through  his 
friends  or  his  family.  The  principle  of  media- 
tion plays  an  important  part  in  every  sphere 
of  human  affairs,  from  small  voluntary  as- 
sociations to  the  weightiest  interests  of  diplo- 
macy. 

In  the  type  of  correlation  which  we  are 
considering,  the  initial  act  is  often  reinforced 
by    its    indirect    consequences.     The    water 


I70        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

which  sweeps  through  a  dike  constantly 
enlarges  the  opening  and  so  increases  its  own 
power.  The  fire  which  warms  the  chimney 
creates  a  fresh  draft  that  makes  a  better  fire. 
Capital  placed  at  compound  interest  is  pro- 
gressively augmented  from  year  to  year. 
Trade  makes  trade.  It  begets  new  wants; 
these  wants  seek  satisfaction  and  as  a  result 
more  goods  are  sold  and  bought.  The  hu- 
mane sentiment  in  a  community  creates 
charitable  societies  and  an  indirect  result  of 
these  societies  is  an  extension  of  humane 
sentiment  in  the  community. 

The  indirect  effect  of  an  action  is  often 
not  the  less  important  for  being  unintentional. 
The  unforseen  results  of  legislation  make  up 
a  large  part  of  the  history  of  civilization. 
A  recent  instance  is  that  of  the  Employers' 
Liability  Laws,  which  have  greatly  promoted 
the  cause  of  temperance;  for  when  employers 
are  liable  for  accidents  they  cannot  afford  to 
hire  intemperate  workmen.  The  inventors 
of  gunpowder  had  no  thought  of  assisting 
the  advance  of  freedom  and  democratic  gov- 
ernment. Yet  their  invention  made  the  peas- 
ant with  a  gun  in  his  hand  a  stronger  fighting 
force  than  the  mailclad  noble.  Great  move- 
ments in  history  often  go  much  farther  than 


CORRELA  TlO.y  1 7  i 

those  who  started  them  ever  purposed.  The 
Jacobin  leaders  in  the  French  Revolution  did 
not  at  first  contemplate  abolition  of  the 
monarchy,  still  less  the  execution  of  the  king. 
For  a  long  time  Cromwell  had  no  thought  of 
the  military  subjugation  of  England.  Luther 
had  no  desire  to  break  with  the  Roman 
Church.  On  the  contrary  he  strove  hard  to 
remain  within  it.  And  even  when  the  breach 
came,  he  little  dreamed  how  much  was  in- 
volved in  the  Protestant  Reformation  which 
he  had  set  in  motion. 

The  second  type  of  Correlation  is  that  of 
Successive  Summation  of  Forces.  In  this 
type  the  correlated  forces  act  successively, 
or  in  a  series,  to  produce  the  result  intended. 

The  necessity  of  successive  coordination 
is  seen  in  the  passage  of  a  law.  In  this  coun- 
try, the  bill  has  to  pass  successively  the  lower 
house,  the  upper  house,  and  the  executive. 
Each  stage  of  the  process  depends  upon  the 
preceding  and  determines  what  follows;  and 
all  the  stages  must  be  completed  before  the 
bill  can  become  a  law. 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  examples  of 
successive  summation  of  forces  is  found  in  the 
industrial  division  of  labor,  where  different 
operations  arc  successively  applied  to  get  the 


172         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

finished  product.  In  the  construction  of  a 
building  the  masons  must  precede  the  car- 
penters or  the  bricklayers,  and  these  must 
do  their  work  before  plasterers  and  decora- 
tors can  attempt  the  finishing  of  the  con- 
structive process.  Every  stage  of  manufac- 
ture is  dependent  upon  the  preceding  and 
is  the  necessary  condition  of  that  which  follows. 
Division  of  labor  has  made  it  possible  for 
the  individual  to  concentrate  his  attention 
on  one  part  until  the  product  of  successive 
laborers  is  nearer  perfection  than  it  could  be 
if  one  man  performed  in  succession  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  labor,  and  large  results  are 
accomplished  with  a  minimum  of  effort. 
As  long  as  primitive  man  made  everything 
for  himself  he  was  largely  independent  of 
other  men  but  he  accomplished  little  in  a  day. 
Now  everybody  satisfies  his  needs  from  one 
or  another  of  his  fellows,  and  realizes  with  a 
growing  consciousness  the  interdependence 
of  society  because  his  very  life  depends  on 
others.  Each  stage  of  manufacture  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  preceding  and  is  the  neces- 
sary condition  of  that  which  follows.  And 
the  product,  whether  it  is  a  shoe  or  a  battle- 
ship, depends  for  its  completion  on  the  full 


CORRELATION  .73 

and  exact  performance  of  every  .stage  of  the 
process   at   the   ])roper   time. 

The  third  form  of  correlative  action  is 
simultaneous  cooperation.  This  type  con- 
sists in  the  operation  of  two  or  more  forces 
at  the  same  time  but  in  different  places. 
The  forces  may  do  their  work  under  direction 
or  through  mutual  agreement,  and  m  either 
case  the  cooperation  may  be  instantaneous 
or  may  extend  over  a  period  of  time.  This 
type  of  Correlation  has  acquired  growing 
importance  in  recent  years  because  of  the 
rapid  development  of  various  forms  of  com- 
munication and  because  of  the  increasing 
sense    of    men's    interdependence. 

The  clearest  exhibition  of  simultaneous  co- 
operation under  direction  is  the  system  of 
weather  observations  now  in  use.  Scientific 
observations  of  meteorological  conditions  at 
widely  scattered  points  taken  simultaneously 
make  possible  the  daily  predictions  concern- 
ing changes  in  the  weather.  Another  ex- 
ample is  the  management  of  an  effective 
blockade  in  time  of  war.  With  care  and 
precision  alike  by  day  and  in  the  darkest 
night  every  ship  patrols  its  own  part  of  the 
coast,  and  all  together  make  it  impossible  for 
the  enemy  to  find  an  opening  through  the 


174        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

lines.  An  instance  of  extraordinary  concert 
in  military  operations  occurred  in  the  recent 
war  between  Russia  and  Japan.  Field  Mar- 
shall Oyama  controlled  the  movements  of 
four  great  Japanese  armies,  moving  them 
over  an  extended  area  with  remarkable  pre- 
cision and  dispatch  by  means  of  the  telegraph 
and  the  telephone,  and  fighting  battles  with 
an  army  front  fifty  miles  long. 

Simultaneous  cooperation  often  requires 
a  period  of  time  for  the  successful  achieve- 
ment of  the  full  results.  To  illustrate  indi- 
vidual influence,  Charlemagne's  example  has 
been  already  cited.  His  lifelong  work  was 
more  wonderful.  As  an  economist  he  issued 
capitularies  for  the  administration  of  royal 
estates;  as  a  general  he  conquered  the  Lom- 
bards and  Saxons;  as  a  statesman  he  sent 
his  representatives  throughout  the  empire 
to  supervise  unruly  counts;  as  an  educator 
he  cared  for  learning  in  the  monasteries  and 
placed  Alcuin  over  the  palace  school;  as  a 
defender  and  apostle  of  Christianity  he  organ- 
ized the  Saxon  Church  and  received  the  crown 
of  the  revived  Roman  Empire  from  the  Bishop 
of  Rome.  In  consequence  of  the  coordina- 
tion of  all  these  activities,  the  age  of  Charle- 


CORRELATION  175 

magne  stands  out  as  the  brightest  period  in 
seven   centuries   of   medi.'uval   history. 

A  higher  form  of  simultaneous  coopera- 
tion appears  when  the  forces  cooperate,  not 
under  external  direction,  but  through  mu- 
tual agreement.  This  form  is  exemplified 
in  many  of  the  operations  of  labor  and  capital. 
At  Rochdale,  England,  in  1844,  twenty  eight 
poor  weavers  formed  an  association  for  co- 
operative trading.  They  bought  groceries 
at  wholesale,  sold  them  to  members  at  retail 
prices  and  distributed  the  profits  to  members 
according  to  the  amount  of  their  trade  at 
the  store.  These  Rochdale  Pioneers  initiated 
a  movement  so  successful  in  its  operations 
that  there  are  now  in  England  over  fourteen 
hundred  such  associations  of  consumers,  com- 
prising twenty  three  hundred  thousand  mem- 
bers and  owning  wholesale  stores  in  Man- 
chester and  Glasgow  which  do  an  annual 
business  of  over  $100,000,000. 

The  Clearing  House  is  another  example. 
The  officials  of  the  different  banks  in  a  city 
establish  a  clearing  house  consisting  of  a 
head  and  clerks,  and  it  has  a  room  with  a 
separate  window  and  boxes  for  each  bank. 
At  an  appointed  time  each  day,  the  agents 
of  the  different  banks  bring  their  checks  and 


176        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

deposit  them  in  their  allotted  places.  The 
checks  are  then  compared  and  if  one  bank 
is  indebted  for  more  than  it  can  pay,  its 
account  must  be  promptly  adjusted,  or  the 
bank  will  be  declared  insolvent.  All  such 
forms  of  effect  by  mutual  agreement  reveal 
the  fact  that  the  genius  of  the  age  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  practice  of  cooperation  and 
we  may  expect  to  see  a  further  development 
in  this  general  direction. 

The  fourth  type  of  Correlation  is  reaction. 
The  action  not  only  continues  in  a  direct 
line  of  consequences  but  provokes  contrary 
action  owing  to  a  tendency  of  the  system  to 
maintain  or  recover  equilibrium.  In  a  cor- 
relative system  there  is  a  normal  equilibrium 
between  the  correlated  parts.  It  is  the  law 
of  the  physical  world  that  action  and  reaction 
are  opposite  and  equal.  We  see  this  in  such 
properties  as  elasticity,  in  such  phenomena 
as  explosions,  in  the  mechanical  arrange- 
ments of  a  swinging  pendulum  and  in  the 
governor  and  safety-valve  of  a  steam  engine. 
Similarly  in  the  organic  sphere  we  find  every 
living  organism  like  the  human  body  obey- 
ing a  law  that  preserves  the  harmony  and 
symmetrical    development    of    all    its    parts. 


CORRELATION  177 

Excess  in  one  direction  soon  calls  forth  a 
reaction  to  restore  equilibrium. 

In  financial  affairs  the  operation  of  this 
principle  is  readily  discovered.  In  the  stock 
market  a  sudden  rise  in  the  price  of  a  stock 
is  followed  by  a  corresponding  decline.  Real 
estate  "booms"  lead  almost  inevitably  to 
depression  and  collapse.  A  "sliding  scale" 
in  the  tariff  is  sometimes  arranged  so  that  if 
an  article  of  commerce  rises  in  price  the  duty 
becomes  less.  In  politics  revolution  is  usually 
followed  by  periods  of  governmental  control. 
In  religion  times  of  intense  excitement  are 
likely  to  be  succeeded  by  periods  of  indiffer- 
ence,  and   conversely. 

In  the  preceding  examples  there  is  a 
simple  reaction  of  the  second  force  upon  the 
first.  The  second  force  acts  directly  opposite 
to  the  first  force  and  in  an  apparently  spon- 
taneous manner.  There  are,  however,  in- 
stances in  which  a  third  factor  enters  and 
causes  the  reaction.  This  is  the  case  when 
the  reaction  takes  place  through  a  medium. 
If  the  prosperous  families  in  the  fashionable 
quarter  of  a  town  pay  no  heed  to  the  poor 
in  a  neighboring  quarter,  this  neglect  and 
the  consequent  disregard  of  sanitary  pre- 
cautions  will   cause   disease   which   contami- 


178         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

nates  water  and  air;  the  disease  will  react 
upon  the  rich  and  may  even  strike  down  the 
head  of  the  wealthiest  household.  If  the 
educated  neglect  the  ignorant,  the  effects  of 
ignorance  will  react  upon  the  educated.  Let 
one  portion  of  a  community  become  addicted 
to  intemperance  and  sensuality  and  there  will 
be  a  recoil  upon  the  portion  that  is  guilty  of 
indifference  only.  Let  the  discriminating  ap- 
plication of  conscience  in  any  portion  of  a 
community  be  disregarded,  and  there  will  be 
in  time  universal  obtuseness  in  moral  judg- 
ments, and  laxity  in  practising  what  even 
the  blunted  sensibilities  dictate.  Thus  a 
group  or  class  of  any  social  system  is  under 
bonds  not  to  harm  another  group  or  class 
lest  the  harm  return  to  plague  the  inventor. 
In  other  instances  of  this  type  the  reaction 
takes  place  through  the  influence  of  a  third 
force.  In  the  simplest  form  of  this  kind  of 
reaction  the  third  force  lies  in  the  general 
sentiment  of  the  community.  One  part  of 
a  community  may  succeed  for  a  while  in 
establishing  a  tone  of  frivolity  and  vice,  as 
not  infrequently  happens  among  pioneers  or 
in  mining  camps;  but  such  a  condition  will 
not  last  long  because  the  sentiment  of  a 
higher  and  better  element  will  bring  about  a 


CORRELATION  lyy 

reaction.  A  j^ood  illustration  of  the  ])lace  a 
third  party  holds  in  society  and  the  ])ower 
it  wields  is  the  role  the  ])ublic  j)lays  in  dis- 
putes between  capital  and  labor.  When  the 
public  finds  which  party  is  right,  it  brings  its 
opinion  and  moral  pressure  to  bear  upon  the 
party  in  the  wrong  and  secures  a  settlement 
which  is  for  the  best  interests  of  all  con- 
cerned. The  same  principle  operates  in  its 
most  pronounced  form  in  the  influence  of  a 
third  party  in  government.  Party  govern- 
ment is  essentially  a  device  for  maintaining 
the  proper  equilibrium  of  social  and  political 
forces.  When  the  party  in  power  governs 
wisely  and  well  it  is  difficult  for  the  oi:)posi- 
tion  to  overturn  it,  but  if  it  pushes  forward 
too  boldly,  then  the  independent  voters  form 
a  third  party,  join  the  conservatives  and 
thus  bring  about  the  reaction  towards  a 
slower  and  safer  progress.  Or  sometimes  the 
movement  of  the  two  great  parties  in  the 
direction  of  reform  is  too  slow.  Neither  the 
Whig  nor  the  Democratic  party  w^as  willing 
to  grapple  with  the  problem  of  negro  slavery 
in  America  until  the  few  who  made  up  the 
Liberty  and  Free  Soil  parties  had  so  indoc- 
trinated the  mind  of  the  North  that  party 
politics  had  to  take  cognizance  of  the  aboli- 


i8o        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

tion  movement.  And  so  powerful  did  it 
become  that  a  third  party,  taking  a  designa- 
tion long  out  of  use,  supplanted  one  of  the 
old  parties  altogether  and  became  the  Repub- 
lican party  of  our  times.  In  England  Glad- 
stone was  compelled  to  take  account  of  the 
demand  of  Ireland  for  home  rule  because  the 
Irish  members  held  the  balance  of  power, 
even  though  his  program  nearly  wrecked 
the  Liberal  party.  Thus  the  principle  of 
reaction  makes  political  perversion  for  any 
long  period   almost   impossible. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the 
importance  to  society  of  those  "  third  parties" 
that  react  against  aggressors  and  extremists. 
But  for  them  progress  would  come  to  a 
standstill  while  two  opposing  parties  were 
engaged  in  a  deadly  conflict  which  would 
crush  the  weaker  without  regard  to  justice 
or  the  welfare  of  the  country. 

The  principle  of  reaction  brings  about  a 
kind  of  periodicity  in  economic  and  social 
movements.  Periods  of  prosperity  and  de- 
pression— "flush  times"  and  "hard  times," 
as  we  call  them — alternate,  and  so  do  periods 
of  freedom  and  subjection  to  authority  in 
politics  and  religion.  Such  reactions,  how- 
ever, do  not  cancel  the  good  effects  of  previous 


CORRELA  TION  1 8 1 

action.  There  is  always  some  progress.  The 
Restoration  did  not  bring  back  the  England  of 
Charles  I.  The  reaction  against  the  Reign 
of  Terror  did  not  bring  back  the  old  regime 
in  France,  nor  did  the  rebound  against  the 
revolutions  of  1830  and  1848  re-establish 
the  institutions  which  those  movements  swept 
away.  As  civilization  advances,  the  pendu- 
lum swings  through  a  smaller  and  smaller  arc. 
Men  learn  from  experience;  the  radicals  are 
satisfied  w4th  less  and  the  conservatives  con- 
cede more.  Yet  we  must  not  expect  the 
oscillation  to  cease  altogether.  Differences 
in  individual  temper  and  in  social  maturity 
call  for  continual  readjustment.  So  long  as 
human  nature  remains  the  same,  so  long  as 
men  are  men,  the  law  of  reaction  will  con- 
tinue to  exert  its  sway  in  social  affairs. 

The  fifth  correlative  type  is  coalition. 
Here  the  forces  concerned  enter  into  a  more 
or  less  permanent  agreement  to  act  together 
for  the  furtherance  of  their  interests.  Mutual 
concessions  from  the  parties  who  form  the 
coalition  are  often  necessary.  We  find  this 
principle  at  w^ork  in  the  industrial  realm. 
Now'here  are  the  principles  of  conciliation 
and  arbitration  more  frequently  made  use  of 
than  in  settling  the  differences  which   arise 


1 8a        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

between  employer  and  employees.  It  is  now 
coming  to  be  the  opinion  of  many  that  every 
state  should  have  a  board  of  arbitration  to 
help  settle  these  difficulties. 

It  is,  however,  in  international  relations 
that  the  significance  of  coalition  is  beat  seen. 
Different  countries  form  a  league  to  protect 
some  strategic  point  or  to  keep  the  political 
situation  favorable  to  all  of  them,  or  to  set 
up  a  bulwark  against  a  common  enemy. 

History  is  full  of  examples.  Babylonia, 
Egypt  and  Lydia  combined  against  Cyrus 
after  his  conquest  of  Media  in  550,  but  it  was 
a  defective  coalition  because  the  allies  could 
not  bring  their  forces  together,  and  so  Cyrus 
beat  them  in  detail.  When  the  host  of 
Xerxes  had  already  penetrated  into  Greece 
the  Spartans  and  the  other  states  of  the 
Peloponnessus  were  for  drawing  back  and 
making  a  stand  at  the  isthmus  of  Corinth. 
The  Athenian  Themistocles  on  the  other 
hand  seeing  the  need  of  destroying  first  the 
Persian  fleet,  made  an  eloquent  appeal  and 
secured  a  coalition  of  the  various  states. 
From  his  success  came  the  victory  of  Salamis 
and  the  rescue  of  European  civilization  from 
conquest  by  an  Oriental  power.  When  it 
seemed  as  if  Louis  XIV.  would  extend  his 


CORRELATION  183 

sway  over  Holland,  as  he  had  already  ex- 
tended it  over  Spain,  it  was  the  unflagging 
energy  of  William  of  Orange  which  imitcd 
England,  Holland  and  Austria  to  hold  the 
Dutch  frontier,  to  lessen  French  predomi- 
nance in  Spain  and  to  check  the  dangerous 
progress  of  absolute  monarchy.  Still  later 
Russia,  Prussia,  Austria,  Sweden  and  Great 
Britain  united  to  defeat  Napoleon. 

Constantinople,  a  strategic  point  of  the  first 
importance  has  long  been  the  subject  of  a 
compact  by  which  several  nations  whose  in- 
terests conflict  have  agreed  that  no  one  of 
them  shall  acquire  an  influence  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  others.  Conflicting  interests 
and  mutual  jealousies  have  united  to  produce 
that  delicate  adjustment  among  nations  which 
we  call  "the  balance  of  power."  This  ad- 
justment has  hitherto  been  confined  chiefly 
to  Europe,  but  is  now  being  extended  into 
Asia,  where  the  several  nations  are  seeking 
to  acquire  and  maintain  "spheres  of  in- 
fluence." 

The  sixth  type  of  correlative  action  is  in 
the  adjustment  and  direction  of  opposing 
forces.  Here  the  forces  operate  at  the  same 
time  and  place  but  are  antagonistic.  In 
such   cases   a   conflict   is   inevitable,    for   the 


1 84        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

system  can  work  only  when  one  force  prevails. 
In  such  a  case  of  balanced  forces,  the  indi- 
vidual may  exert  the  greatest  possible  in- 
fluence, for  he  may  turn  the  scale  and  deter- 
mine the  result. 

This  has  often  been  the  case  in  politics. 
One  vote  carried  the  tariff  of  1842,  and  one 
vote  repealed  it  in  1846.  One  vote  out  of 
an  aggregate  of  a  hundred  thousand  elected 
a  governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1841  One 
vote  elected  Oliver  Cromwell  to  the  Long 
Parliament;  but  the  holder  of  that  vote 
little  thought  that  his  hand  was  to  convulse 
a  kingdom  with  revolution  and  send  Charles 
Stuart  to  the  scaffold.  By  a  single  vote  in 
the  United  States  Senate,  Texas  was  admitted 
to  the  Union,  in  1845;  this  precipitated  the 
Mexican  War,  led  to  the  admission  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  had  no  little  weight  in  bringing 
the  question  of  slavery  to  an  issue.  Talley- 
rand's achievement  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
held  in  181 4  to  settle  European  affairs  after 
Napoleon's  abdication,  furnishes  a  famous 
example.  The  coinciding  interests  of  Prussia 
and  of  Russia  caused--  them  to  work  more  or 
less  together.  This  forced  England  and  Aus- 
tria to  join  in  opposition.  This  situation 
Talleyrand  adroitly  intensified  until,   as  the 


CORRELATION  185 

representative  of  the  fifth  great  power  of  the 
Congress,  he  became  the  practical  arbiter  of 
the  chief  questions  and  enabled  France  to 
come  out  far  better  than  the  powers  had 
intended. 

These  are  cases  where  the  individual  has 
had  great  power  in  political  life  because  of 
the  balance  of  opposing  forces.  Instances 
abound  in  history  where  the  balance  of  power 
in  politics  has  been  held  by  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  individuals.  Thus  the  Irish 
members  of  Parliament  under  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Parnell  long  had  an  influence  far  be- 
yond their  numerical  proportion  because  of 
their  abihty  to  help  either  the  Tory  or  the 
Liberal  party  to  victory  in  closely  contested 
cases.  Similar  facts  appear  in  French  and 
German  politics  of  recent  times  in  the  action 
of  the   Socialistic  and   Clerical   factions. 

The  previous  examples  of  the  significance 
of  the  individual  in  controlling  balanced 
opposing  forces  are  taken  from  politics.  Even 
more  striking  illustrations  are  found  in  mili- 
tary history.  In  a  council  of  officers  a  single 
voice  may  precipitate  an  engagement.  On 
the  Plains  of  Marathon,  five  generals  were 
in  favor  of  an  attack  and  five  against  it. 
Callimachus  gave  the  casting  vote  for  battle 


i86        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  thus  secured  a  victory  whose  efifect  out- 
lived the  independence  of  Greece.  European 
civilization  might  have  been  Oriental  in  type 
had  Callimachus  voted  the  other  way.  And 
even  in  the  actual  conflict  the  result  may 
turn  on  the  valor  and  steadiness  of  the  single 
person,  even  of  the  cingle  private.  The 
commanding  general  may  have  marshalled 
his  troops  with  the  utmost  skill  and  furnished 
them  with  the  most  effective  weapons  of  w^ar, 
and  yet  at  the  crisis  of  the  fight  a  single 
subaltern  may  make  a  mistake  in  his  limited 
command  and  this  mistake  may  confuse  the 
plan  of  battle  and  lose  the  day.  Though  each 
soldier  is  under  an  iron  rule,  still  he  may 
influence  the  entire  army.  A  single  false 
impression,  or  a  sudden  failure  of  courage 
may  cause  him  to  turn  and  flee  in  terror. 
His  fright  spreads  to  others  and  a  panic  may 
result  that  is  beyond  the  power  of  the  com- 
mander to  check.  When  such  an  event  oc- 
curs on  a  battlefield  where  great  interests 
of  humanity  are  at  stake,  then  the  greatest 
possible  results,  so  far  as  human  combinations 
can  effect  them,  may  be  decided  by  so  trivial 
an  influence  as  the  unreasoning  fear  of  a 
single  private. 


CORRELATION  187 

Such  facts  show  how  sensitive  the  social 
mechanism  is  and  how  apparently  slight 
causes  may  produce  far-reaching  effects. 
Forces  seem  to  be  balanced,  and  some  slight 
force  comes  in  to  overturn  the  equilibrium 
and  produce  a  new  order.  Thirty  years  after 
the  death  of  Mohammed  a  civil  war  broke 
out  over  the  succession  to  the  caliphate. 
AH,  son-in-law  of  Mohammed,  had  been 
proclaimed  his  fourth  successor,  but  Moawi- 
yah,  an  ambitious  pretender  of  Damascus, 
took  up  arms  against  his  rival.  They  met 
in  the  battle  of  Siffin  and  w^hen  Ali's  men 
were  pressing  their  opponents  hard  Moawi- 
yah's  soldiers  at  the  suggestion  of  Amru 
one  of  his  generals  pierced  leaves  of  the  Koran 
with  their  spears  and  raising  them  aloft 
shouted  "The  Law  of  the  Lord!  Let  it  de- 
cide betwixt  us!"  This  checked  the  ad- 
vance, for  in  spite  of  Ali's  urging  his  men 
cried,  "We  are  called  to  the  Book  and  we 
cannot  decline  it."  This  appeal  to  the  super- 
stition of  the  soldiers  lost  the  battle  to  Ali 
and  the  rule  of  the  Mohammedan  world  passed 
to  a  new  dynasty.  The  Book  had  indeed 
decided  the  question  of  Moslem  unity,  but 
it  did  it  through  the  ingenious  trick  of  the 
individual  commander. 


i88        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

And  the  same  significance  of  the  individual 
at  critical  moments  appears  in  the  history 
of  the  same  people  less  than  a  century  later. 
By  that  time  the  Moslem  arms  had  con- 
quered Arabia,  Persia,  Syria,  Africa  and 
Spain.  Because  of  this  conquest  one  ques- 
tion was  confronting  Europe — the  Crescent 
or  the  Cross,  Mohammed  or  Christ?  There 
was  indeed  serious  danger  that  these  fanatical 
hordes  would  over-run  all  Europe  and  ex- 
tinguish Christian  civilization  altogether. 
Then  it  was  that  Charles  Martel  in  732  united 
the  Germanic  armies  against  the  common 
foe  and  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Poitiers, 
as  it  is  commonly  called,  inflicted  such  a 
defeat  upon  the  Moslems  that  they  were  so®n 
driven  out  of  Europe.  Of  the  effect  of  this 
battle  an  eminent  historian  has  said  that  if 
the  Moslem  arms  had  not  then  been  turned 
back  the  interpretation  of  the  Koran  instead 
of  the  Bible  might  have  been  taught  at  the 
schools  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Imagina- 
tion is  bewildered  in  the  attempt  to  trace  the 
devastation  which  Moslem  fanaticism  might 
have  wrought  over  Europe  and  America  and 
the  islands  of  the  sea  now  blessed  by  the 
sway  of  a  Christian  civilization.  The  bat- 
tle   illustrates    the    significance    of    the    in- 


CORRELATION  189 

dividual  in  deciding  results  in  a  system  of 
balanced  and  opposing  forces.  By  this 
one  victory  Europe  was  saved  from  Mo- 
hammed and  the  Anglo-Saxon  mind  which 
was  yet  to  sway  the  world  was  rescued  for  a 
Christian  tutelage. 

Here  we  close  our  study  of  the  various 
forms  of  influence  possible  in  the  human 
world.  The  result  is  to  confirm  the  con- 
viction reached  in  previous  chapters  that  the 
system  of  social  order  instead  of  crippling 
and  thwarting  the  individual  rather  furnishes 
him  with  instruments  and  opportunities  for 
the  highest  possible  development  and  the 
most  far-reaching  influence. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GRADES  OF  INFLUENCE. 

Having  examined  the  several  methods  by 
which  the  influence  of  the  individual  is 
transmitted  and  increased,  we  have  now  to 
consider  the  different  grades  of  influence 
and  the  conditions  which  determine  them. 
What  is  it  that  distinguishes  the  potent  from 
the  impotent  lives,  the  great  men  of  enduring 
fame  from  the  many  little  men  who  are  soon 
forgotten?  In  other  words  we  ask  the  ques- 
tion, What  is  needful  to  get  the  highest  grade 
of  influence? 

The  several  grades,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  are  settled  to  some  extent  by  the  method 
which  the  individual  employs.  If  a  man 
works  through  the  diffusive  method  his  in- 
fluence will  be  vague,  spasmodic  and  without 
fixed  control;  if  through  succession,  it  will 
ordinarily  be  limited  to  the  routine  of  life. 
If  he  operates  by  divergence  his  influence 
will  be  more  deliberate,  better  regulated  and 
more  far-reaching ;  if  by  convergence  his  effec- 
190 


GRADES  OF  INFLUENCE  191 

tiveness  will  be  increased  because  the  forces 
which  he  controls  are  more  concentrated  and 
because  he  can  at  times  avail  himself  of  forces 
that  are  unforeseen.  In  the  germinal  method 
the  grade  of  influence  is  still  higher,  for  here 
the  individual  may  deliberately  affect  the 
whole  of  civilization  by  awakening  and  in- 
spiring a  great  mind  or  by  originating  prin- 
ciples and  institutions  that  contain  the  seeds 
of  vast  development.  Finally,  the  highest 
influence  of  all  is  exercised  by  the  individual 
who  occupies  the  point  of  control  in  the 
correlative   method. 

Manifestly,  however,  the  grade  of  an  in- 
dividual's influence  is  not  determined  alto- 
gether by  the  method  which  he  utilizes.  It 
depends  also  upon  his  power  to  lead  men. 
Capacity  for  leadership  is  a  personal  matter 
and  cannot  always  be  exactly  analyzed. 
Yet  in  the  main  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
traits  of  character  which  great  leadership 
requires  are  sagacity,  integrity,  perseverance 
and  that  indefinable  thing  which  we  call 
magnetism. 

Sagacity  is  peculiarly  necessary  for  the 
organizer  who  has  to  adjust  many  conflicting 
interests  and  unite  them  in  a  compact  work- 
ing force.     This  is  seen  in  the  case  of  Augus- 


192        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

tus  who  worked  out  the  system  of  govern- 
ment for  the  Roman  Empire;  in  the  con- 
tributions made  to  church  law  and  adminis- 
tration by  such  a  pope  as  Innocent  III.; 
and  in  the  work  of  Bismark  in  founding  the 
German  empire.  Lincoln  also  displayed  this 
virtue  in  the  highest  degree,  in  the  joint  de- 
bate with  Douglas  for  the  Illinois  senatorship 
in  1858,  and  later,  when  as  President  he 
temporarily  set  aside  the  question  of  slavery, 
and  seized  upon  the  only  issue  that  could 
solidify  the  North  against  the  South — "  Union 
or  disunion." 

Further,  the  truly  essential  leader  of  men 
must  possess  integrity  of  character.  This 
quality  is  based  on  conscience.  To  have 
great  influence,  one  must  show  sincerity  of 
purpose  as  well  as  trained  intellectual  powers. 
Since  social  operations  depend  upon  general 
confidence,  the  leader  must  prove  that  he 
can  be  depended  upon.  Lord  Althorp  who 
led  the  forces  which  passed  the  English  Re- 
form Bill  of  1832  had  no  oratorical  power 
and  very  little  statesmanship,  but  his  perfect 
sincerity  and  purity  of  purpose  caused  abler 
men  to  rally  round  him  and  unwillingly  sub- 
ordinate themselves  to  him.  A  notable  in- 
stance in  classic  times  is  that  of  Nicias  the 


GRADES  OF  INFLUENCE  193 

Athenian.  Without  great  executive  capacity 
or  force  of  character,  he  commanded  such 
universal  confidence  because  of  his  high 
pecuniary  integrity — not  a  very  common 
virtue  in  Greece — that  he  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  great  Athenian  expedition  against 
Syracuse. 

Integrity  of  character,  in  its  supreme  ex- 
hibition, includes  disinterestedness.  Nothing 
gives  a  leader  greater  power  than  the  knowl- 
edge on  the  part  of  the  people  that  he  has 
no  personal  interest  to  subserve  by  the  meas- 
ure he  advocates.  For  example,  the  influence 
of  such  aristocrats  as  the  Marquis  de  La- 
fayette and  the  Vicomte  de  Noailles,  in  the 
French  Revolution,  was  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  general  knowledge  that  they  were  giving 
up  their  own  privileges  and  sacrificing  much 
of  their  own  possessions  for  the  public  good. 

A  third  essential  qualification  for  leader- 
ship is  perseverance.  This  quality  rests  on 
the  will.  Every  leader  must  acquire  patience 
and  persistence.  He  must  be  willing  to 
labor  for  a  remote  end,  and  to  wait  long  for 
the  full  results  of  his  efforts.  A  notable 
instance  of  steadfastness  is  that  of  Robert 
Bruce  in  the  Scotch  War  against  Edward  I. 
and  Edward  II.     He  was  defeated  arain  and 


194        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

again,  and  reduced  at  times  to  the  greatest 
straits.  But  he  would  never  give  up  the 
cause.  Gradually  he  made  head  against  the 
English  forces  and  finally  inflicted  upon  them 
a  crushing  defeat. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  leader  must  have 
the  quality  of  magnetism.  Personal  mag- 
netism appears  to  be  based  on  sympathy. 
But,  whatever  its  origin,  it  is  the  quality 
which  enables  a  born  leader,  often  without 
visible  effort,  to  gain  the  loyalty  and  affection 
of  his  followers.  Brasidas  the  Spartan  is  said 
to  have  won  over  many  of  the  adherents  of 
Athens  by  the  mere  charm  of  his  manners 
and  bearing.  Lord  Bolingbroke  seems  to  have 
cast  a  kind  of  spell  over  his  contemporaries, 
both  men  and  women.  Carl  Schurz  writes 
of  Henry  Clay:  "The  remarkable  fascination 
he  exercised  seems  to  have  reached  even  be- 
yond his  living  existence.  More  than  thirty 
years  after  his  death,  we  hear  old  men  who 
knew  him  in  the  days  of  his  strength  speak 
of  him  with  enthusiasm  and  affection  so  warm 
and  fresh  as  to  convince  us  that  the  recol- 
lection of  having  followed  his  leadership  is 
among  the  dearest  treasures  of  their  mem- 
ories." Great  leaders  have  sometimes  lacked 
this  gift  of  inspiring  devotion,  but  all  who 


GRADES  OF  INFLUENCE  195 

have  possessed  it  have  found  it  of  immense 
service.  On  the  other  hand,  if  personal 
magnetism  is  altogether  wanting,  one  may 
be  as  sagacious  as  Hildebrand  or  Bismark, 
as  incorruptible  as  Nicias,  and  as  courageous 
and  persevering  as  Robert  Bruce,  and  yet 
fail  to  achieve  or  maintain  a  position  as  leader 
of  men. 

Yet  even  if  the  individual  has  all  the  finali- 
ties of  leadership  and  applies  them  in  the 
most  effective  of  the  six  methods,  the  grade 
of  his  influence  will  ultimately  depend  on  the 
sphere  in  which  he  operates.  Four  spheres  of 
social  operations  may  be  specified:  the  eco- 
nomic, the  educational,  the  governmental 
and  the  religious.  Though  not  always  com- 
pletely separable  from  one  another,  these  four 
departments  of  human  activity  are  distinct 
enough  in  their  main  outlines  to  serve  as  a 
satisfactory  classification. 

In  the  economic  sphere  we  include  all  forms 
of  industry,  commerce,  finance  and  invention. 
These  provide  opportunity  for  large  influence 
on  the  part  of  the  so-called  "captains  of  in- 
dustry," whose  predominant  traits  are  the 
power  to  see  the  situation  and  to  dominate  it, 
executive  ability,  mastery  of  details  and  skill 
in  marshalling  forces.     The  present  age  is  a 


196        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

witness  to  their  power.  They  are  the  men 
who  cover  the  ocean  with  ships,  tunnel 
through  mountains,  delve  into  the  earth 
for  mineral  wealth  and  harness  steam  and 
electricity  to  drive  the  machinery  of  factories. 

The  power  of  the  individual  in  the  eco- 
nomic sphere  is  working  on  a  colossal  scale 
in  the  great  transportation  systems  of  Amer- 
ica. A  man  of  insight  and  talent  for  organi- 
zation rises  in  the  service  until  he  reaches  an 
important  position.  He  becomes  known  as 
an  efficient  manager.  He  gains  the  confi- 
dence of  business  men  so  that  he  can  finance 
necessary  improvements.  Before  many  years 
the  railroad  of  which  he  is  the  controlling 
mind  is  conspicuous  for  its  excellences.  Then 
the  keen  mind  of  this  captain  of  industry 
sees  larger  opportunities  in  the  relation  of  the 
railroad  system  of  a  certain  section  of  the 
country.  He  plans  to  readjust  trunk  lines, 
to  coordinate  and  control  a  united  system 
covering  thousands  of  miles;  and  presently 
his  influence  is  felt  throughout  half  a  continent. 

The  sphere  of  government  subordinates 
and  utilizes  economic  agencies.  It  offers 
greater  opportunities  to  the  individual  and 
makes  higher  demands  on  his  powers.  The 
very   words,    King,    Emperor,    army,    parlia- 


GRADES  OF  IXFLUENCE  197 

ment,  congress;  the  mere  names  of  Caesar, 
Charlemagne,  Frederick  the  Great,  Peter  of 
Russia,  Pitt,  Richelieu,  Cavour,  and  Bismark, 
call  up  in  our  minds  historical  associations 
which  well  illustrate  the  significance  of  the 
governmental  sphere.  The  loyalties  and  feel- 
ings evoked  by  economic  industrial  leaders 
seem  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
sentiment  evoked  by  the  great  political  lead- 
ers. 

In  the  educational  sphere  men  gain  a 
higher  grade  of  influence.  This  sphere  in- 
cludes not  only  our  school  system  but  all  the 
means  of  kno\A'ledge  and  information:  books, 
periodicals  and  the  daily  press.  These  edu- 
cators make  their  appeal  to  the  inner  forces 
of  life;  they  instruct,  they  persuade,  they 
move.  They  gain  control  over  minds  in  the 
formative  state  and  train  them  for  their 
work  in  the  world.  Such  power  is  wielded 
by  the  winning  force  of  education.  The 
educator  has  the  opportunity  to  shape  the 
policy  of  the  iniiversity,  to  coordinate  its 
departments,  to  impress  its  influence  upon 
the  preparatory  school  and  in  fact  to  create 
a  complete  educational  system.  Long  after 
school  days  are  over  the  educators  still  wield 
their  influence  in  a  thousand  different  ways. 


198        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Prepared  by  these  influences  of  education 
the  individual  moves  along  with  increasing 
power  amid  the  activities  of  life.  By  the 
daily  press  current  events  are  recorded;  by 
periodicals,  theories  in  civic  life  are  discussed; 
and  libraries  are  filled  with  volumes  which 
keep  society  in  touch  with  the  latest  stages 
of  civilization.  All  who  lead  in  the  dissemi- 
nation of  knowledge,  who  define  and  enun- 
ciate the  principles  of  truth  and  of  conduct 
are  affecting  the  ideals  upon  which  all  civili- 
zation  is   founded. 

Finally,  the  highest  sphere  in  life  is  the 
religious.  Religious  influences  are  stronger 
than  others  because  they  take  hold  on  higher 
c|ualities  in  man's  nature.  Religion  appeals 
not  only  to  the  intellect,  the  imagination 
and  the  emotions,  but  also  to  the  conscience 
and  to  the  affections  in  their  higher  exercise. 
It  is  as  wide  as  humanity  and  as  old  as  the 
race.  It  is  a  fundamental  element  in  society. 
Political  and  social  institutions  have  always 
been  based  to  a  certain  extent  on  religious 
beliefs  or  have  been  modified  to  conform  to 
them.  The  history  of  religion  is  the  history 
of  the  world. 

A  new  religious  idea  may  create  a  new 
civilization  or  hold  an  old  one  together  when 


GRADES  OF  INFLUENCE 

it  would  otherwise  fall  to  pieces.  The  Par- 
sees  formed  a  nation  centuries  ago,  and 
still  survive  in  India  with  undiminished 
vitality.  The  warring  tribes  who  accepted 
Mohammed  became  in  a  moment  the  Arabian 
people.  The  Jews  would  long  ago  have  dis- 
appeared, as  a  race,  were  it  not  for  their 
religion.  The  supremacy  of  the  religious  in- 
terest is  proved  by  the  firmness  with  which 
men  stand  for  it,  preferring  it  to  every  secular 
tie.  The  willingness  of  the  Huguenots  and 
the  Puritans  to  expatriate  themselves  for 
the  sake  of  their  faith  is  typical.  Religious 
influences  have  changed  the  map  of  the  world. 
They  have  reconstructed  society.  They  bind 
together  peoples  separated  by  oceans  and 
continents  or  by  the  still  more  formidable 
barriers  of  race  and  language  and  inherited 
hostility.  They  are  destined  to  become  the 
most  powerful  of  all  agents  in  bringing  about 
the  federation  of  mankind. 

Those  leaders,  therefore,  who  have  moulded 
the  religious  convictions  of  the  race  have 
affected  society  more  deeply  than  captains 
of  industry,  or  kings,  or  great  educators. 
Such  names  as  Zoroaster,  Confucius,  Buddha, 
Moses  and  Mohammed  are  proof  enough  that 


200        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  highest  of  all  grades  of  influence  is  that 
exerted  in  the  sphere  of  religion. 

In  closing  our  discussion  of  the  several 
spheres  of  influence,  one  cautionary  remark 
may  be  necessary.  For  convenience  we  have 
treated  each  sphere  by  itself  but  of  course 
there  is  no  implication  that  they  are  perfectly 
distinct  from  each  other  in  actual  experience. 
Government  is  largely  concerned  with  eco- 
nomic matters.  Politics  may  become  a  me- 
dium for  the  highest  ideal  effort  and  be  lifted 
even  into  the  sphere  of  religion.  And  re- 
ligion itself  is  not  a  thing  apart.  It  is  the 
spirit  of  life  and  as  such  it  must  have  continual 
reference  to  the  natural  conditions  of  exis- 
tenqe.  These  are  not  to  be  neglected.  Still 
less  are  they  to  be  denounced  as  unspiritual. 
They  are  rather  to  be  spiritualized  by  the 
religious  principles,  so  that  the  whole  of  life 
may  be  brought  into  harmony  with  that 
which  is  highest  in  our  nature. 

Thus  far  our  study  of  the  grades  of  in- 
fluence has  proceeded  step  by  step.  The 
methods,  the  personal  qualities  and  the 
spheres  of  activity  that  we  have  treated  are 
common  to  all  mankind  in  some  degree. 
We  come  now  to  a  class  by  itself  which  re- 


GRADES  OF  IXFLUENCE  201 

fuses  to  be  subjected  to  comparative  analysis. 
We  have  to  consider  Men  of  Genius. 

Great  men  must  be  accepted  as  data;  in 
other  words,  they  can  never  be  wholly  ex- 
plained but  must  be  taken  as  they  are. 
Furthermore,  the  genius  does  not  conform 
to  the  type  but  is  conspicuous  for  his  depart- 
tures  from  it.  He  is  a  "social  variation." 
The  ordinary  man  lives  largely  by  imitating 
and  fits  his  opinions  to  those  of  his  time; 
but  the  genius  does  not  so  much  conform  to 
society  as  compel  society  to  conform  to  him. 
He  blazes  new  trails.  In  affairs  he  is  rela- 
tively independent  of  system  operations.  In 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  realms  he  disre- 
gards the  conventions  and  judgments  of  the 
crowd,  and  expresses  his  own  individuality. 
Yet  because  of  his  kinship  with  us  at  our  own 
highest  spiritual  levels  we  feel  that  he  is  really 
expressing  the  powers  that  are  latent  in  our- 
selves. He  is  the  heroic  man  in  whom  we 
find   the   realization  of  our  ow^n  ideals. 

The  fundamental  trait  of  genius  is  inde- 
pendence. The  man  of  genius  somehow  de- 
rives from  himself  the  power  and  the  insight 
which  others  borrow  from  the  community. 
And  because  he  does  not  conform  to  the  type, 
he  cannot,  as  a  rule,  cooperate  with  others. 


20  2        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

but  must  work  alone;  and  the  work  which  he 
achieves  remains  as  a  permanent  monument 
of  his  preeminence.  This  quality  of  self- 
reliance  appears  progressively  as  we  pass  from 
the  genius  in  affairs  to  the  genius  in  thought, 
and  from  the  genius  in  thought  to  the  genius 
in  imagination. 

The  man  of  genius  in  affairs  is  distinguished 
from  the  ordinary  man  of  action  by  his  su- 
periority to  the  social  instruments  which  he 
finds  about  him.  Instead  of  being  determined 
by  these  he  turns  them  to  his  use  and  re- 
fashions them  to  suit  his  ov/n  original  designs. 
To  this  practical  type  belong  the  great  rulers 
and  statesmen, — men  like  Alexander  who 
hurled  Europe  against  Asia,  destroyed  the 
ancient  regime  and  in  a  few  brief  years  laid 
the  cornerstones  of  a  half-dozen  kingdoms; 
and  like  Julius  Caesar  who  founded  the  Ro- 
man Empire  and  through  his  conquest  of 
Gaul  established  Roman  civilization  in  the 
heart  of  western  Europe.  A  more  conspic- 
uous example  is  Napoleon  who  not  only 
turned  an  army  enthusiastic  for  republicanism, 
with  officers  who  thought  themselves  abler 
generals  than  he,  into  a  loyal  and  admiring 
force  to  sustain  his  own  usurpation,  but  also 
formed   from   old   and   haughty  independent 


GRADES  OF  IXFLUEXCE  203 

states  a  huge  empire  which  later  found  much 
difficulty  in  breaking  away  from  his  rule. 

The  genius  in  thought  is  represented  by  the 
great  scientists  and  philosophers.  In  New- 
ton's constructive  mind  were  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  whole  modem  movement  in  exact 
science.  His  great  generalization  of  the  fun- 
damental conceptions  of  mechanics  was  the 
work  of  a  single  intellect  free  from  conven- 
tion, seeing  things  with  originality  and  over 
a  wider  range.  In  a  similar  way  Danvin 
and  Pasteur  through  their  freedom  from  mere 
tradition,  through  the  combination  in  them 
of  daring  and  rigorous  method,  have  marked 
epochs  in  the  history  of  science.  Plato, 
vSpinoza  and  Kant,  among  the  philosophers, 
have  through  their  speculative  genius  con- 
tributed to  human  life  certain  imperishable 
records  of  unique  insight  and  lofty  modes  of 
contemplation. 

But  even  scientists  and  philosophers  are 
not  wholly  self-sufficient.  Their  task  is  in- 
herited from  their  predecessors  and  their 
work  in  turn  is  transmitted  to  successors  by 
whom  in  the  course  of  time  it  is  corrected  and 
expanded.  Only  the  genius  who  works  with 
the  imagination  and  expresses  himself  in  art 
can  be  said  fully  to  exemplify  that  internal 


20.4        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

power  and   aloofness  which  is   the  mark  of 
this   type   of   individual. 

No  doubt  the  great  painter,  sculptor, 
musician  or  poet  is  a  leader  of  humanity. 
He  makes  his  appeals  to  the  deeper  emotional 
nature  common  to  all;  his  interests  are  as 
wide  as  the  world.  Yet  he  is  not  so  much 
conscious  of  serving  others  as  he  is  of  being 
himself.  His  activity  does  not  depend  upon 
the  support  of  others  or  upon  the  use  of  any 
social  mechanism  whatsoever.  He  bears  the 
same  relation  to  those  he  leads  that  the  moon 
bears  to  the  tides.  He  goes  his  way  in  his 
appointed  orbit  independently  of  the  effect 
he  produces,  believing  that  his  life  has  a  pur- 
pose in  some  higher  plan  and  that  its  fruit- 
fulness  will  follow  without  any  concern  on 
his  own  part. 

The  genius  may  have  no  advantage  of  rank 
or  wealth;  may  build  on  no  man's  founda- 
tions; may  share  his  labors  with  no  fellow- 
worker;  and  yet,  by  virtue  of  his  special 
endowment,  he  becomes  a  power  among  men 
to  the  remotest  generations.  His  achieve- 
ment remains  unique.  It  speaks  for  itself. 
He  has  chiseled  in  marble  his  visions  of  grace 
and  strength,  or  portrayed  on  canvas  his 
sense  of  beauty  and  mystery.     He  has  shown 


GRADES  OF  IXFLUENCE  205 

in  the  drama  the  hidden  springs  of  human 
action.  His  imagination  has  thrown  its  charm 
over  the  shifting  scenes  of  common  hfe  in  the 
novel.  He  has  written  poems  that  console 
the  troubled,  or  has  composed  melodies  that 
inspire  the  worshipper.  His  early  years  may 
have  been  passed  in  a  humble  home  and 
among  rustic  neighbors;  but  travellers  from 
many  lands  later  make  pilgrimages  to  the 
cottage  where  he  was  born  and  visit  his  grave 
with  reverence  as  if  it  were  a  shrine. 

Twenty  centuries  ago  there  appeared  among 
men  a  person  whose  influence  upon  humanity 
has  been  without  a  parallel.  The  historic 
Christ  fulfills  most  perfectly  the  conditions 
of  the  loftiest  grade  of  influence — namely, 
that  personality  and  sphere  of  work  shall 
both  be  supreme.  If  we  compare  Christ 
wdth  any  man  of  genius,  his  preeminence  ap- 
pears both  in  his  appeal  to  the  deepest  life 
of  the  soul  and  in  the  fruits  of  his  labors. 
The  man  of  genius  appeals  to  the  sensibilities 
and  to  the  imagination,  and  excites  admira- 
tion and  enthusiasm.  Christ  appeals  to  the 
moral  and  religious  consciousness  and  calls 
forth  love  and  devotion  and  reverence.  The 
work  of  the  man  of  genius  is  the  creation  of 
beauty    or   thought    in    painting,    statue,    or 


2o6        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

poem.  The  work  of  Christ  is  the  redemp- 
tion of  mankind.  Christ's  power  is  manifest 
in  the  changed  Hves  of  men  and  in  the  sub- 
ordination of  all  the  secular  forces  of  society 
to  the  establishment  of  a  developing  King- 
dom of  God.  Nation  after  nation  has  come 
under  his  sway.  Opposing  forces,  one  after 
another,  have  been  met  and  conquered  and 
brought  into  His  service.  Movements  which 
He  began  have  enlisted  the  greatest  minds 
of  succeeding  centuries.  And  a  new  social 
consciousness,  influenced  with  his  spirit  now 
demands  that  all  the  forces  of  society  work 
together  for  the  interests  of  his  kingdom. 

Thus  have  the  different  grades  of  influence 
passed  in  review.  The  commen  men  may  be 
compared  to  the  group  of  trees  in  the  valley 
of  Chamounix  in  Switzerland.  Each,  though 
distinct,  still  resembles  the  others.  The  cap- 
tains of  the  social  spheres  are  like  the  foot- 
hills. The  men  of  genius  are  like  the  indi- 
vidual peaks,  each  distinct  from  the  others. 
But  Christ  is  like  the  snow-white  Mont 
Blanc  that  towers  above  them  all.  The 
crowning  summit  has  a  peculiar  significance 
and  a  glory  all  its  own.  Long  after  the 
valleys  have  lost  the  light  of  day,  it  catches 
the  rays  of  the  sun  and  reflects  them  in  peace- 


GRADES  OF  INFLUENCE  207 

fill  benediction  to  the  dwellers  below.  And 
long  before  the  surrounding  peaks  are  lighted 
by  the  coming  dawn,  it  catches  the  foregleams 
of  the  sun  and  summons  the  traveler  to  rise 
and  hail  the  King  of  Day. 


CHAPTER  X. 

TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE. 

We  have  now  discussed  the  mechanism 
of  society  and  have  studied  the  several  types 
of  action  which  give  scope  and  efficiency  to 
individual  effort.  It  is  immediately  manifest 
that  all  social  actions  have  some  tendency 
to  permanence.  They  are  not  fleeting  in 
their  nature  or  their  products,  but  have  an 
abiding  quality  and  issue  in  results  that 
endure.  Otherwise  no  such  thing  as  progress 
would  be  conceivable. 

By  permanence,  of  course  we  do  not  mean 
changelessness.  If  society  is  to  last,  it  must 
be  able  to  adjust  itself  to  new  conditions  as  a 
physical  organization  adapts  itself  to  a  new 
environment.  But  with  this  constant  growth 
and  adaptation,  there  is  an  underlying  con- 
tinuity which  joins  past,  present  and  future 
as  phases  of  the  same  system.  In  this 
chapter  we  consider  the  ground  of  this  con- 
tinuity, or  those  tendencies  in  human  life 
which  make  for  social  permanence. 
208 


TENDENCIES   TO  PERMANENCE  209 

We  shall  consider  first,  the  intrinsic  quali- 
ties of  permanence,  in  the  individuals  and  in 
their  connections;  for  the  permanence  of  any 
system  depends  primarily  on  the  constancy 
of  the  integers  and  of  the  nexus  that  binds 
them  together.  Nothing  durable  can  be  made 
out  of  perishable  parts  or  out  of  parts  that 
are  loosely  joined. 

First,  then,  there  are  mutual  differences  in 
the  durability  of  the  integers.  Varying  with 
the  degree  of  permanence  desired,  the  house- 
builder  uses  blocks  of  wood,  brick,  sand  stone 
or  granite.  Here  there  is  an  intrinsic  differ- 
ence in  the  nature  of  the  material  integers, 
which  can  only  be  accepted  as  a  fact  of  which 
no  account  can  be  given  or  which  must  be 
referred  to  the  creative  plan.  If  we  consider 
a  social  system  a  similar  fact  appears.  Its 
stability  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  indi- 
vidual members  of  which  the  system  is  com- 
posed. In  each  human  being  there  is  an  in- 
definable personal  equation  or  quality,  due 
partly  to  heredity,  partly  to  we  know  not 
what.  Men  differ  as  to  their  stability.  Some 
are  strong  and  firm;  others  are  weak  and 
fickle.  In  untrustworthy  men,  only  the  sup- 
erficial aspect  of  human  nature  finds  expres- 
sion.    For  instance,   the  intellectual  passion 


2  10        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

for  truth  holds  the  scientific  investigator  firm 
in  his  search  for  an  understanding  of  the  laws 
of  nature;  and  he  continues  at  his  task  for 
a  lifetime,  if  need  be.  Men  of  ideals  are  noted 
for  their  persistency  and  their  determination 
to  bring  to  pass  what  the  ideal  demands. 
These  are  the  men  who  can  be  counted  on  for 
enduring  service,  and  who  can  always  be  found 
at  the  post  of  duty.  They  are  the  granitic 
characters  of  society,  who  would  die  rather 
than  yield.  Such  were  the  generals  who 
interpreted  and  carried  out  Napoleon's  plans, 
making  France  for  a  time  the  dominant  na- 
tion in  Europe.  Their  successors  of  sixty 
years  later,  through  lack  of  these  very  quali- 
ties, gave  her  up,  an  easy  prey,  to  Von 
Moltke's  army. 

Social  organizations,  large  or  small,  built 
up  with  trustworthy  individuals  will,  of 
course,  be  the  more  permanent.  Associa- 
tions made  up  of  the  unstable  class  will 
quickly  disintegrate  unless  they  are  held  to- 
gether by  external  compulsion.  An  associa- 
tion composed  of  the  solid  business  men  of 
the  community,  is  much  more  permanent 
than  one  composed  of  shiftless  vagabonds  or 
the  idle  rich. 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  an 

Such  variation  in  stability  may  be  observed 
not  only  among  individuals  of  the  same  race, 
but  also  in  comparing  races  with  each  other. 
Some  races  are  still  infants  in  all  that  con- 
cerns firmness  of  purpose  and  steadiness  of 
action,  and  their  social  and  political  organi- 
zations are  correspondingly  undeveloped. 
Only  the  crudest  systems  of  government  are 
stable  in  such  cases.  Any  advanced  system, 
if  imposed  upon  these  races  from  without, 
soon  perishes,  or  is  continually  disturbed  by 
reaction   and   revolution. 

And  there  must  be  permanence  not  only 
in  the  integers  but  in  their  connections.  A 
group  united  by  some  tem]:)orary  interest — 
a  card  or  camera  club,  for  instance — is  not 
likely  to  hold  together  as  long  as  a  political 
club,  a  literary  or  scientific  society  or  a  trade 
union.  Associations  for  moral  and  religious 
purposes  are  most  permanent  of  all  since  the 
ties  that  bind  them  are  the  eternal  interests 
of  mankind. 

But  to  secure  permanence  these  coroponent 
parts  of  a  system  must  have  also  a  harmonious 
adjustment  of  its  internal  forces.  A  fine 
chronometer  may  be  ruined  by  a  loose  screw 
or  a  broken  cog.  In  the  human  body,  if  one 
organ  gets  out  of  adjustment  with  the  others, 


2  12         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  health  and  stabiHty  of  the  whole  is 
endangered.  In  like  manner  there  must  be 
adjustment  and  agreement  in  the  internal 
forces  of  a  social  group  or  system.  vSo  long 
as  all  the  members  of  a  social  group  agree 
about  the  prmciples  upon  which  the  organiza- 
tion is  founded  and  the  purpose  which  it  is 
to  serve,  and  thus  work  together  harmonious- 
ly, there  is  Httle  question  of  its  stability. 
But  when  the  internal  forces  cannot  be 
brought  into  agreement,  the  organizations 
have  a  brief  career.  Domestic  maladjust- 
ment disrupts  a  family;  internal  discord  is 
the  reason  for  the  failure  of  so  many  of  the 
American  communistic  societies ;  schisms  with- 
in religious  bodies  prevent  their  growth  and 
lead  to  their  early  decay.  Many  societies 
organized  for  moral  reform  have  gone  to 
pieces  because  the  members  disagreed  on 
fundamental  principles.  The  impossibility  of 
adjusting  conflicting  political  and  economic 
interests  brought  on  our  civil  War.  History 
is  replete  with  instances  of  governments 
whose  stability  was  destroyed  by  their  in- 
ternal   discord. 

Still  another  condition  of  social  per- 
manence is  adaptation  of  the  internal  forces  of 
a  system  to  its  environment.    Biology  teaches 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  213 

US  that  this  condition  is  essential  to  the  sur- 
vival of  an  organism.  The  fauna  and  flora 
of  a  given  region  are  adapted  to  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  climate  and  soil;  and  they  can 
survive  elsewhere  only  when  the  conditions 
are  practically  the  same.  Now  this  principle 
of  adaptation  which  is  fundamental  in  the 
natural  realm  is  operative  also  in  man's  in- 
dividual and  social  career.  The  human  indi- 
vidual must  be  fitted  for  his  environment  if 
he  would  live  his  largest  life. 

For  the  sake  of  clearness,  the  environment 
may  be  studied  in  three  phases — physical, 
social  and  moral.  Each  of  these  makes  on 
both  individuals  and  groups  certain  requi- 
sitions which  must  be  met  if  survival  or 
permanence  is  to  result. 

The  steadying  influence  of  physical  environ- 
ment is  apparent  in  the  permanence  that 
results  from  investments.  A  man's  stability 
in  his  calling  and  in  his  social  relations  is 
much  increased  by  the  acquisition  of  property. 
He  must  remain  where  his  vested  interests 
are.  If  his  initial  outlay  is  to  be  saved  he 
must  generally  continue  the  operations  for 
which  it  was  originally  made.  The  real  estate 
and  materials  utilized  for  a  business  plant 
may  be  available  only  for  the  work  designed, 


2  14        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  in  any  case  it  is  difficult  to  realize  upon 
them  in  a  moment  without  sacrificing  good- 
will and  commercial  advantage.  According- 
ly it  is  found  in  times  of  social  disturbance 
and  industrial  unrest,  that  men  with  property 
have  a  stability  beyond  others.  Employers 
of  labor  of  all  kinds  recognize  this  fact.  Thus 
the  nature  of  the  industrial  environment 
tends  to  steadiness  in  the  individual;  and 
this  in  turn  reacts  to  produce  permanence 
in   society. 

And  what  is  true  of  individual  investments 
applies  with  even  greater  force  to  collective 
outlay.  If  the  government  undertakes  a 
series  of  great  public  improvements,  the  out- 
lay as  the  work  goes  on  makes  it  more  and 
more  difficult  to  alter  the  design.  Let  a 
national  government  resolve  to  locate  a  new 
capital  city.  The  plan  of  such  a  city  may  be 
adopted  and  incorporated  into  a  law.  With- 
in the  first  few  years,  the  plan  or  law  may  be 
easily  modified;  but  if  the  law  continues  and 
the  buildings  of  the  city  are  conformed  to 
the  original  plan  for  a  hundred  years,  change 
will  be  an  entirely  different  matter:  any  ex- 
tensive modification  will  affect  many  streets 
and  imposing  structures.  In  some  respects 
it  would  be  desirable  to  have  the  capital  of 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  215 

the  United  States  in  the  Mississippi  Valley 
or  to  rebuild  San  Francisco  across  the  Bay. 
But  this  cannot  be.  Too  much  money  has 
been  invested  in  the  present  site,  and  any 
suggestion  of  a  removal  is  idle  and  prepos- 
terous. 

Even  greater  than  the  restrictive  and 
steadying  influences  of  physical  environment 
are  those  of  social  environment.  The  indi- 
vidual must  adjust  himself  to  the  require- 
ments of  society  if  he  is  to  survive,  and  such 
adaptation  has  a  powerful  tendency  to  es- 
tablish permanence.  Observe  this  in  a  man's 
preparation  for  his  chosen  calling.  His  facul- 
ties have  a  limited  season  in  which  they  can 
be  trained  for  the  work  of  life.  In  youth  the 
mental  powers  are  pliant,  adaptable;  but 
these  conditions  pass  and  with  them  passes 
the  opportunity  for  easy  change  of  one's 
vocation.  If  the  faculties  are  long  exercised 
in  one  direction,  they  cannot  well  be  made  to 
work  efficiently  in  any  other.  The  dividing 
line  may  seem  slight  when  the  choice  is  first 
made,  but  it  becomes  more  and  more  fixed 
as  time  goes  on  and  so  in  the  long  run  per- 
manency  is   secured. 

In  general,  as  society  becomes  more  highly 
organized  preparation  for  its  duties  must  be 


2i6        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

more  thorough.  The  same  tendency  is  pres- 
ent in  industrial  life ;  the  demand  is  for  higher 
technical  skill  and  better  general  education. 
Unskilled  labor  is  displaced  by  machinery 
as  communities  become  more  progressive, 
and  ignorance  and  incompetency  are  increas- 
ingly at  a  disadvantage. 

With  the  growing  complexity  of  life  and 
its  keener  competition,  greater  specialization 
is  constantly  necessary.  Men  are  forced  to 
confine  themselves  to  one  department  of  law 
or  medicine  or  art;  and  the  claims  of  the 
chosen  profession  limit  action  in  other  direc- 
tions. Since,  therefore,  the  individual  who 
would  succeed  in  a  trade  or  a  profession  must 
measure  up  to  the  new  standards,  he  must 
avail  himself  of  his  opportunities,  to  the 
utmost.  If  he  would  sit  in  the  seats  of  the 
mighty,  he  must  make  thorough  preparation 
to  gain  and  keep  them.  The  time  for  this  is 
the  plastic  period  of  youth  when  one  is  readily 
adaptable  and  able  to  acquire  dexterity  of 
hand  and  quickness  of  brain.  As  timiC  passes 
there  comes  increasing  efficiency,  which  would 
all  be  lost  if  the  vocation  were  changed. 
Moreover,  as  the  stage  of  plasticity  passes, 
ability  to  change  passes  also.  The  necessity 
of  earning  a  livelihood,  and  the  fact  that  for 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  217 

most  men  there  are  few  places  where  they 
can  find  employment,  are  forces  which  give 
steadiness  to  modern  society. 

The  same  principle  of  adaptation  to  the 
social  environment  holds  true  with  reference 
to  groups  and  institutions.  They  too,  like 
individuals,  must  be  fitted  to  their  environ- 
ment if  they  would  survive.  And  their  de- 
gree of  permanence  is  conditioned  by  the 
nicety   of   their   adaptation. 

The  institutions  which  chiefly  fall  under 
this  principle  are  of  tw^o  kinds,  social  and 
political.  The  former  are  more  permanent 
and  important,  since  they  concern  the  very 
life  of  the  people;  the  latter  are  relatively 
unimportant.  To  the  former  belong  all  the 
great  social  traditions  and  customs,  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  family,  the  school  and  the 
church,  with  all  the  usages  that  have  grown 
out  of  them  and  around  them.  Here  belong 
also  the  fundamental  laws  of  trade,  freedom 
of  contract  and  all  the  mercantile  customs 
that  rule  the  business  world,  together  with 
the  laws  of  property,  inheritance,  bequest, 
etc.  On  these  our  civilization  itself  depends. 
On  the  other  hand,  political  forms  might 
change  profoundly  without  seriously  affecting 
this  social  order.     If  the  English  government 


2i8        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

should  become  republican  in  form  it  would 
alter  very  slightly  the  essential  order  of  Eng- 
lish life,  just  as  our  own  country  is  identical 
under  all  changes  of  administration.  But 
the  same  law  of  adaptation  applies  to  both 
social  and  political  institutions.  A  social 
system  which  is  ill-adapted  to  the  demands 
made  upon  it  has  lost  all  reason  for  existence, 
and  must  soon  disintegrate  and  disappear. 
A  glance  into  history  confirms  this  statement. 
Institutions  which  have  been  forced  upon  a 
community  with  no  consideration  for  its 
character,  or  for  its  special  needs,  have  soon 
passed  away.  Mexico  for  example  is  a  re- 
public in  name,  but  an  autocracy  in  fact, 
because  the  people  need  a  dictator — whatever 
he  may  be  called.  Even  when  unadapted 
institutions  have  been  imposed  by  conquest, 
the  conquered  people  have  either  thrown 
them  off,  or  transformed  them  to  meet  their 
own  needs.  German  barbarians  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  of  our  era  overran  the 
Roman  territory  in  western  Europe,  allowed 
the  title  of  emperor  to  lapse,  and  introduced 
customs  altogether  foreign  to  the  life  of  the 
civilized  provinces.  Such  changes  could  not 
be  permanent.  The  civilization  of  the  van- 
quished slowly  altered  the  uncouth  customs 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  219 

of  the  victors;  the  old  provinces  became 
Roman  kingdoms ;  and  the  idea  of  the  empire 
survived  with  such  persistency  that  even  its 
substance  was  restored  by  Charlemagne  in 
the  year  800.  In  fact  the  barbarians  con- 
quered Rome  in  outward  form,  but  Rome 
conquered  the  barbarians  in  spirit. 

Institutions  which  fail  to  adjust  themselves 
to  changing  conditions,  cannot  be  permanent. 
Feudalism  disappeared  in  Europe,  and  more 
recently  in  Japan,  because  it  was  politically 
outgrown.  Germany  was  united  despite  the 
protest  of  petty  sovereigns  because  new  con- 
ditions demanded  the  empire.  Modern  sys- 
tems of  government  ensure  stability  by  pro- 
viding lawful  means  of  amending  constitu- 
tions as  occasion  may  require. 

History  furnishes  many  examples  of  in- 
stitutions not  necessarily  good  in  themselves 
which  have  shown  astonishing  tenacity  of 
life  because  they  are  peculiarly  fitted  to 
their  immediate  social  environment.  The 
Spartan  oligarchy,  with  its  crude  communism, 
its  irksome  discipline  and  its  rigid  parsimony, 
lasted  for  centuries  because  only  under  such 
a  system  could  a  small  military  upper  class 
maintain  its  rule,  or  even  its  individuality, 
among  the  larger  body  of  native  agriculturists. 


220        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Among  the  more  cultured,  liberal  and 
statesman-like  Athenians,  supported  by  their 
external  dependencies  rather  than  by  a  sub- 
ject population  at  home,  an  oligarchy  would 
have  been  impossible.  In  a  like  manner  the 
maintenance  by  the  Venetians  of  the  largest 
commercial  empire  then  existent  made  pos- 
sible and  even  indispensable,  a  vigorous 
oligarchy  and  a  searching  police  system  which 
the  neighboring  city  of  Florence  with  its 
localized  interests  would  have  found  intoler- 
able. Mohammedanism  owes  its  strong  hold 
upon  Eastern  nations  largely  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  well  suited  to  their  temper,  by  its  monar- 
chical idea  of  the  Deity,  by  its  showy  rites 
and  by  its  public  devotions.  Whatever  the 
form  of  a  government  may  be,  it  must  be 
adapted  to  the  genius  and  conditions  of  the 
people  if  it  is  to  endure. 

But  the  supreme  adaptation  demanded  of 
the  individual  or  of  any  social  system  is  the 
moral  environment.  The  human  race  has 
worked  out  certain  great  principles  of  justice 
and  mutual  confidence  and  good-will  which 
are  essential  to  its  life  and  progress.  These 
are  the  basal  laws  of  society.  Character  in 
the  individual  consists  in  a  right  adjustment 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  221 

to  these  ])rinciples,  and  he  wliose  character 
is  best  is  fittest  to  survive. 

The  necessity  for  adaptation  to  the  moral 
environment  shows  itself  more  clearly  in  the 
case  of  social  groups  and  institutions.  In 
that  larger  sphere  history  reveals  a  "power 
not  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteousness," 
and  that  holds  all  human  kind  to  the  test  of 
harmony  with  eternal  moral  principles.  The 
individual  life  is  often  too  short-sighted  to 
enable  it  to  see  the  moral  law  fully  vindicate 
itself,  but  when  we  read  the  record  of  peoples 
and  nations  we  perceive  the  moral  factor 
plainly  at  work  and  increasingly  dominant. 
In  the  long  run  only  justice  and  integrity 
can  exalt  a  nation.  A  people  devoted  to  the 
life  of  the  senses  is  already  decadent  and 
Nemesis  is  at  the  door.  A  nation  built  on 
oppression  and  inhumanity  invites  the  social 
earthquake  that  shall  overthrow  it.  Slavery 
was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  economic  con- 
ditions of  the  South,  and  it  appeared  to  be 
impregnably  fortified  by  commercial  inter- 
ests and  ecclesiastical  conservatism.  But  it 
fell  because  it  was  out  of  harmony  with  the 
moral  law.  The  Western  nations,  in  their 
dealings  with  Oriental  races,  seem  likely  to 
learn  before  long  that  insolence  and  rapacity 


222        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

are  costly,  and  that  permanent  relations  can 
be  established  only  on  the  basis  of  a  common 
humanity   and   reciprocal   justice. 

We  turn  now  to  the  consideration  of  ra- 
tional life  in  which  the  law  of  habit  demands 
particular  attention  in  any  treatment  of  the 
tendencies  which  make  for  permanence.  Habit 
is,  to  be  sure,  a  secondary  force;  for  other 
forces  must  act — and  act  repeatedly — before  it 
can  even  come  into  existence.  Yet  it  per- 
meates every  phase  of  individual  and  col- 
lective life  and  its  influence  is  always  power- 
fully exerted  in  the  direction  of  stability. 

Any  train  of  ideas  or  any  course  of  action, 
if  often  repeated,  becomes  fixed.  We  are 
unconsciously  impelled  to  think,  to  feel  or  to 
do  what  under  like  circumstances  we  have 
previously  thought  or  felt  or  done. 

And  so  habit  binds  to  the  past  and  prevents 
capricious  change,  whether  in  thought  or 
action.  Habit  enables  us  to  store  up  the 
results  of  effort.  It  is  a  kind  of  biological 
savings  bank  in  which  we  deposit  our  earn- 
ings and  where  they  lie  at  compound  interest 
for  our  account.  Without  habit  we  should 
never  accumulate  vital  capital  but  should 
Hve,  as  it  were,  from  hand  to  mouth.  Habit 
makes  work  light,  for  it  lessens  the  conscious 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  223 

movements  rec|uirctl,  makes  them  more  ac- 
curate and  regular,  and  minimizes  fatigue. 
We  do  the  accustomed  things  unconsciously; 
and  are  thus  left  free  to  give  our  conscious 
effort  to  new  and  difficult  tasks.  Routine 
is  the  great  means  of  securing  ease  and  pre- 
cision in  individual  action,  and  these  are  the 
rewards  of  habit.  Habit  has  kept  business 
men  in  the  office  long  after  their  fortunes 
were  made  and  all  financial  interest  in  the 
firm  has  ceased.  Passive  states  of  the  mind, 
such  as  reveries,  may  become  so  delightful 
that  they  cannot  be  interrupted  without  pain. 
The  man  of  science  and  the  artist  never  lose 
their  enthusiasm.  Their  work  is  so  inspiring 
that  they  cannot  leave  the  laboratory  or  the 
studio  without  regret.  The  philanthropist 
may  begin  his  career  of  benevolence  without 
relish  and  only  under  an  imperative  sense  of 
duty,  but  he  soon  feels  an  ever-increasing 
glow  of  enjoyment  in  doing  good.  Thus 
habit  adds  zest  to  tasks  which  may  have  been 
indifferent  or  difficult  at  first,  and  supplies  a 
constantly  augmenting  impulse  towards  con- 
tinuance of  effort  and  stability  of  results. 

Clearly,  then,  we  must  recognize  in  habit 
a  powerful  influence  for  stability  in  every 
sphere  of  human  effort.     True,  in  the  higher 


224        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  more  complex  activities  of  life  it  does  not 
dominate,  but  even  in  these  its  power  is 
continually  felt  and  whenever  it  operates  it 
makes  for  permanence. 

Diffusive  forces  are  subject  to  the  law  of 
habit  in  two  ways.  On  the  one  hand,  thought, 
sentiment  or  action  which  emanates  from 
certain  centers  tends  to  become  fixed  and 
uniform;  on  the  other,  individuals  or  groups 
that  are  frequently  subjected  to  certain  in- 
fluences grow  to  be  peculiarly  susceptible 
to  them.  Thus  elderly  people  are  often 
wedded  to  a  single  newspaper,  and  impres- 
sionable persons  listen  to  only  one  leader. 
Customs  are  only  diffused  habits.  They  arise 
when  the  same  influence  is  diffused  in  such  a 
manner  that  all  the  members  of  a  social  group 
are  forming  the  same  habit  at  the  same  time. 
How  important  this  is  for  the  race  is  evident. 
Herein  lies  the  natural  history  of  the  develop- 
ment not  only  of  languages,  but  of  those 
manners,  forms  of  conduct  and  traditional 
beliefs  that  give  a  nation  its  distinctive 
quality. 

Passing  on  to  the  method  of  succession, 
we  observe  that  when  influences  are  constant- 
ly repeated  in  a  certain  order  a  routine  of 
operation   develops.     Such   repetition   estab- 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  225 

lishcs  a  line  of  least  resistance  for  subsequent 
activity.  Men  are  prone  to  walk  in  the  beaten 
tracks.  Highways  are  laid  out  along  the 
trails  worn  by  the  feet  of  the  pioneer.  The 
streets  in  great  cities  follow  the  paths  and 
lanes  of  ancient  villages.  So  custom  may 
keep  up  a  practice  long  after  its  usefulness  has 
ceased.  The  prevalence  of  "red  tape"  in 
governments  in  the  older  countries  is  a  fa- 
miliar example.  Fixed  tenure  of  office  is 
not  an  unadulterated  good,  for  official  con- 
servatism is  likely  to  cling  to  antiquated 
methods.  This  tendency  of  repetition  to 
hold  all  acts  to  the  particular  line  of  a  con- 
tinuous series  is  whimsically,  but  forcibly, 
illustrated  by  the  anecdote  of  a  retired  naval 
officer,  who  had  a  mound  of  earth  raised  in 
his  garden,  of  the  form  and  size  of  his  quarter 
deck,  on  which  to  take  his  morning  walks. 
It  is  recorded  that  a  prisoner  in  the  Bastile, 
liberated  after  thirty  years'  confinement 
found  the  ties  of  custom  so  strong  that  he 
returned  and  begged  to  be  again  shut  up  in 
his  narrow  cell. 

The  forces  of  diffusion  and  succession  are 
connected  with  the  more  spontaneous  and 
instinctive  operations  of  society,  and  here 
the  power  of  habit  is  peculiarly  conspicuous. 


2  26        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

The  higher  social  forces  to  which  we  now 
turn  are  regulated  to  an  ever  increasing  de- 
gree by  the  intelligence  and  initiative  of  men. 
But  although,  for  this  reason,  their  operation 
does  not  wholly  assume  the  form  of  habit, 
they  are  none  tlie  less  modified  by  it,  and 
owe  to  it  very  largely  the  permanence  of  their 
results. 

When  social  operations  follow  the  method 
of  divergence  the  habits  formed  at  the  center 
persist,  and  serve  as  bonds  between  the  cen- 
ter and  each  member  of  the  system.  Thus 
solidarity  is  effected,  in  spite  of  the  scatter- 
ing of  individuals  in  the  pursuit  of  their 
several  interests.  College  life,  for  instance, 
is  one  of  the  most  lasting  of  social  influences. 
Young  students  come  together  from  diverse 
surroundings,  to  spend  four  years  in  daily 
lessons,  in  social  intercourse  and  in  common 
pastimes.  They  go  back  to  their  homes 
with  memories  that  have  taken  lasting  hold 
on  the  nature  and  exert  at  times  a  powerful 
sway.  The  heart  is  thrilled  by  the  news  of 
each  recurring  commencement.  The  influ- 
ence of  an  honored  instructor  is  recalled 
v/hen  he  dies  or  lays  down  his  office.  At 
class  reunions  the  graduates  look  back  to 
their  student,  years  and  understand  how  the 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  227 

college  teaching  round  which  so  many  later 
social  forces  have  clustered,  has  been  per- 
petuated in  character  and  in  achievement 
for  the  public  good  at  seasons  of  stress  and 
calamity.  No  one  can  participate  in  such 
a  reunion  without  recognizing  the  power  of 
habit  to  fix  noble  influences  which,  as  they 
continue,  acquire  an  accumulating  tendency 
to  permanence. 

The  method  of  convergence  is  more  per- 
manent than  that  of  divergence,  because  it 
involves  not  only  control,  but  also  reciprocal 
support,  increasing  as  the  parts  of  the  system 
come  nearer  together.  Social  gatherings,  in- 
frequent or  regular,  and  the  massing  of  men 
in  centers  of  population,  provide  for  the 
formation  of  collective  habits,  based  on 
"like-mindedness."  Since  the  forces  are  knit 
together  more  closely  as  they  converge,  the 
habits  likewise  interlace  and  strengthen  one 
another.  Industrial  convergence,  for  ex- 
ample, tends  strongly  to  perpetuate  itself 
by  social  habit.  London  won  its  place  as  the 
financial  center  of  the  w^orld  largely  by  vir- 
tue of  the  maritime  supremacy  of  England. 
And  now  the  finances  of  other  countries  have 
adjusted  themselves  so  thoroughly  to  this 
state  of  things  through  countless  repetition 


228        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

in  all  manner  of  transactions,  that  the  center 
could  not  be  shifted  without  a  general  dis- 
organization of  business.  Even  if  its  initial 
advantages  should  pass  away,  London  would 
long  retain  its  position  because  of  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  adjusting  the  complex  financial 
system  of  the  world  to  any  other  center. 

The  bearing  of  habit  on  germination  is 
still  more  important.  Habits  formed  during 
the  growing  period  influence  and  determine 
the  mature  organism.  The  strength  of  home 
ties  illustrates  this  truth.  Such  ties,  formed 
in  early  youth,  hold  firm  to  the  very  end  of 
life.  Indeed,  they  are  never  stronger  than 
in  old  age,  which  restores  early  associations 
interrupted  by  the  activities  of  mature  years. 
In  the  arm  of  the  sea  at  full  tide  it  is  difficult 
to  locate  the  true  channel;  but  when  the 
tide  has  ebbed  the  small  streams  yet  flowing 
bring  its  course  to  view.  So,  when  the  tumult 
of  action  has  subsided,  the  quiet  of  old  age 
reveals  the  true  channel  of  the  soul's  expe- 
rience. The  old  man  remembers  distinctly 
events  of  his  youth.  At  the  time  they  seem- 
ed to  be  of  no  special  importance;  but  it  is 
now  evident  that  they  have  had  strong  in- 
fluence upon  his  life.  He  recalls  the  chance 
remark  which  led  to  a  new  departure  in  his 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  229 

career;  the  decision  for  the  right  against  the 
pressure  of  wrong,  which  has  served  as  a 
guide   in   successive   and   divergent   paths. 

In  his  early  days  he  formed  ideals  of  his 
work,  of  wealth  to  be  amassed,  of  high 
station  to  be  reached,  of  noble  service  to  be 
rendered.  Whether  he  has  attained  them 
or  not,  his  very  recollection  of  such  ideals 
shows  that  they  have  lasted  and  have  exer- 
cised a  permanent  influence  upon  his  charac- 
ter. This  principle  applies  equally  to  so- 
ciety in  general.  The  essential  nature  of 
an  organism  cannot  be  altered  by  outside 
influences.  Through  every  change  of  soil 
and  climate  the  oak  is  still  an  oak;  it  main- 
tains the  character  that  was  implicit  in  the 
original  acorn.  So  the  essential  nature  of 
social  institutions  persists  in  spite  of  great 
changes  in  environment.  The  work  of  the 
founders  of  New  England  impressed  itself  at 
the  outset  on  only  a  few  hundred  persons, 
but  it  created  a  special  type  of  men  and 
certain  social  and  political  ideas.  The  popu- 
lation of  New  England  now  numbers  mil- 
lions, including  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
foreigners,  yet  the  type  endures  to-day,  and 
newcomers  adjust  themselves  to  the  social 
ideal. 


230        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

The  significance  of  habit  in  germinal  sys- 
tems becomes  even  more  impressive  when  we 
consider  the  overlapping  of  generations.  If, 
as  in  certain  lower  forms  of  animal  life,  the 
death  of  one  human  generation  followed 
immediately  upon  the  birth  of  the  next,  no 
social  heritage  would  be  possible.  Social 
permanence  begins  when  the  parents  live 
long  enough  to  teach  their  offspring.  The 
extended  period  of  human  infancy  enables 
a  man  to  enter  upon  his  active  career  in 
fuller  possession  of  what  his  ancestors  have 
gained.  And  this  he  will  hand  on,  in  his  turn, 
as  a  part  of  that  ever-increasing  fund  of 
powers  and  resources  which  we  call  civiliza- 
tion. This  overlapping  of  generations  in- 
sures us  against  any  sudden  or  violent  break 
with  the  past.  For,  whatever  convulsions 
occur  in  politics  or  reUgion,  the  great  mass 
of  social  actions  and  habits  survive,  and  so- 
ciety can  pursue  its  course  as  a  continuous 
and  developing  system. 

All  the  factors  thus  described  as  making 
for  permanence  are  gathered  up  and  made 
more  effective  by  the  correlations  that  ob- 
tain in  a  developed  social  order.  In  a  cor- 
relative system  not  only  do  the  lower  forms 
of  social  action  become  habitual,   but  their 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  23. 

correlations  also  tend  to  become  fixed.  For 
this  reason  such  a  system  is  more  permanent 
than  any  other,  because  the  interconnection 
and  independence  of  part  tends  to  brace  and 
strengthen  the  whole  structure.  The  more 
elaborate  organization  subordinates  lesser 
forces  to  the  common  good  and  unites  them 
in  the  service  of  the  social  whole. 

We  find  this  principle  illustrated  first  of 
all  in  the  life  of  the  individual  himself.  A 
person  with  few  social  ties  easily  becomes 
socially  unstable  and  anarchic,  while  the  man 
v/ith  a  famil}^  or  relatives  depending  on  him, 
in  that  fact  gives  security  for  good  behavior. 
In  the  same  way  the  man  with  property  or 
who  has  investments  of  any  kind,  other 
things  being  equal,  will  be  socially  more 
stable  than  a  man  with  nothing.  According- 
ly it  is  found  in  times  of  social  disturbance 
and  industrial  unrest  that  married  men  and 
men  with  something  to  lose  have  a  stability 
beyond  all  others.  And  man's  occupation 
tends  to  produce  a  type  of  thought  and  life 
that  makes  for  permanence  in  itself  and  that 
also  correlates  him  with  all  others  of  the  same 
occupation.  In  this  way  common  interests 
are  developed  which  react  upon  individ- 
uals and  bind  them    more   firmly   together. 


232        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Trades-unionism,  professional  feeling  and  even 
caste  itself  have  their  roots  in  this  fact  of 
correlated  interests. 

This  same  tendency  of  correlated  interests 
to  make  for  permanence  and  stability  finds 
fuller  illustration  in  the  industrial  and  finan- 
cial world.  Its  usages  and  mutual  interests 
are  so  correlated  that  the  business  men  of  the 
community  become  its  most  conservative 
force.  They  have  been  organized  but  a  short 
time,  yet  from  their  correlative  operations 
they  have  a  tendency  to  permanence.  This 
tendency  is  still  stronger  when,  under  the  law 
of  correlative  repetition,  they  have  been 
pursuing  these  lives  of  business  for  a  long 
time.  They  have  "  given  hostages  to  fortune  " 
and  do  not  like  revolutions.  The  Northern 
business  men  of  1 850-1 860  naturally  shrank 
from  the  vast  commercial  disorganization 
which  would  result  from  the  sundering  of 
ties  with  the  South.  The  trading  class  as  a 
whole  was  adverse  to  the  American  Revo- 
lution. Business  men  forced  Marmont  to 
surrender  Paris  to  the  allies  in  181 4,  to  pre- 
vent a  bombardment.  These  material  in- 
terests are  among  the  most  powerful  factors 
that  are  making  for  universal  peace  and  the 
federation  of  the  world.     They  are  displacing 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  23.3 

the  predatory  and  belligerent  type  of  thought, 
by  showing  the  costliness  and  waste  of  war, 
and  it  is  the  lack  of  just  such  interwoven 
interests  in  some  South  American  countries 
which  causes  them  to  be  so  unstable,  and 
this  anarchy  in  turn  prevents  their  growth. 
Nicaragua  lost  its  chief  source  of  prosperity, 
the  culture  of  indigo,  long  before  aniline 
dyes  began  to  displace  indigo, because  incessant 
revolutions  kept  the  working  class  so  dis- 
turbed that  labor  could  not  be  counted  on 
when  needed  and  capital  refused  to  take 
the   risk. 

Thus  we  see  how  business  interests  are 
interwoven  with  political  interests.  Corpora- 
tions become  social  institutions  and  give  both 
direction  and  solidity  to  political  and  govern- 
mental activity.  As  the  individual  is  sobered 
and  steadied  by  his  investments,  so  the  com- 
munity itself  is  steadied  by  its  investments 
in  civilization  which  more  and  more  demand 
social  permanence  as  their  supreme  condition. 
And  the  same  insight  that  is  displacing 
military  war  is  also  displacing  industrial  war. 
Strikes  and  lockouts  are  seen  to  be  too  costly 
to  be  indulged  in  needlessly,  and  a  greater 
thoughtfulness    on    both    sides    is    resulting. 


234        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

In  the  field  of  national  life  also  we  find 
correlation  making  for  permanence.  Habit- 
ual correlations  in  the  unorganized  forces  of 
national  life  produce  and  maintain  a  national 
type  of  thought,  action  and  feeling.  The 
bond  of  nationality  is  strengthened  by  a 
thousand  subtle  associations  of  sky  and 
mountain,  of  shore  and  valley.  It  is  strength- 
ened by  familiar  idioms  and  proverbs,  by 
phrases  of  salutation  and  forms  of  hospitality. 
Even  sports  and  pastimes  and  forms  of  recrea- 
tion connected  with  national  holidays  serve 
to  strengthen  the  feeling  of  solidarity  and  to 
unite  the  individual  with  his  fellows  in  one 
great  famil}^  Sentiments  peculiar  to  the 
temper  and  environment  of  a  people  find  ex- 
pression in  poetry  and  the  songs  of  the  poet 
are  set  to  music  that  finds  an  echo  in  every 
heart.  Patriotic  ballads  are  cherished  by 
the  colony  that  carries  national  customs 
over  sea ;  they  take  firm  hold  on  the  national 
life  and  retain  it  for  centuries;  they  nerve  the 
soldier  to  die  in  defense  of  his  country.  On 
the  field  of  conquest,  in  a  distant  land,  such 
airs  have  even  been  known  to  spread  home- 
sickness like  an  epidemic  so  that  it  has  been 
necessary  to  forbid  the  bands  to  pla}/  them. 
Such    expressions    of    national    feeling  sym- 


TENDEXCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  235 

bolize  the  essential  unity  of  a  people.  They 
give  a  distinctive  tone  that  dilTerentiates  one 
nation  from  another;  they  draw  fellow-coun- 
trymen together  wherever  they  chance  to 
meet,  and  confirm  the  strength  and  penr.a- 
nence  of  a  national   tie. 

The  correlations  in  national  life  that  make 
for  permanence  become  still  more  effective 
when  they  rise  above  the  unorganized  in- 
fluences and  take  on  the  form  of  government. 
Then  a  still  higher  and  firmer  stability  is 
reached.  This  too  is  not  the  work  of  a  day. 
Historically,  the  first  step  in  this  direction 
was  the  formation  of  common  law.  This  law 
was  primarily  nothing  but  a  custom  to  which 
legal  sanction  was  given;  but  the  sanction 
gave  it  the  permanence  and  binding  quality 
of  law.  To  some  extent  the  same  fact  still 
continues.  Customary  acts  daily  repeated 
acquire  legal  sanction.  A  footpath  becomes 
trodden  across  a  field  that  separates  two 
frequented  streets,  and  if  the  owner  gives  no 
warning  to  tresspassers,  after  a  term  of  years 
it  becomes  by  custom  a  permanent  thorough- 
fare which  the  original  owner  is  not  allowed 
to  close  against  the  public.  Business  customs 
also  fix  the  methods  of  dealing  in  city  and 
country  over  lialf  a  continent,  and  in  case  of 


236        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

dispute  the  customs  decide  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  law  or  contract. 

But  in  modern  society  constitutions  and 
statute  laws  are  the  great  forms  in  which 
organized  governments  exist  and  make  for 
permanence.  In  the  constitution  many  things 
are  withdrawn  from  change  even  by  the  peo- 
ple themselves  except  under  difficult  con- 
ditions. In  the  statutes  the  attempt  is  made 
to  conserve  the  rights  of  each  and  to  correlate 
the  interests  of  all  so  as  to  reach  the  maximum 
of  social  security  and  individual  opportunity. 
Thus  the  framework  of  civil  life  and  rules  are 
prescribed  by  which  the  citizens  may  do 
their  own  work  without  interfering  with  their 
neighbors,  and  by  which  they  may  cooper- 
ate in  great  undertakings.  When  these  laws 
are  wisely  made  they  contribute  greatly  to 
patriotic  feeling. 

The  three  great  reform  bills  passed  by  the 
English  parliament  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury bound  more  firmly  to  the  nation  the 
masses  of  the  people  by  extending  the  fran- 
chise. The  state  of  ;^ Virginia  increased  the 
enthusiastic  loyalty  of  dissenters  in  the  time 
of  Revolutionary  struggle  by  mxaking  re- 
ligious liberty  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land. 
Some  statute  laws  have  been  enacted  to  raise 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  237 

the  people  to  a  higher  standard  of  morahty, 
and  by  long  practice  and  repetition  have  be- 
come permanent.  A  single  statute  law  by 
remaining  in  operation  for  centuries  has 
accumulated  a  distinct  force  which  makes 
for  permanence.  And  obedience  to  statute 
laws  by  successive  generations  trains  all  the 
people  to  solidarity  of  national  sentiment. 
When  to  these  we  add  the  growing  community 
of  interest  due  to  the  spread  of  commerce  and 
industry  through  the  more  rapid  means  of 
communication,  and  the  extension  of  this 
community  across  a  continent,  we  get  a  more 
adequate  idea  of  the  greatness  of  the  forces 
in  a  nation's  life  that  make  for  permanence. 
But  none  of  these  forces,  nor  all  of  them 
together,  reach  the  highest  result  for  national 
permanence  until  they  are  correlated  with 
a  worthy  national  history.  A  noble  history 
is  a  nation's  best  asset  and  the  best  security 
that  it  will  endure.  The  hardships  and 
dangers,  the  struggles  and  sacrifices  in  the 
early  history  of  a  nation,  or  at  some  great 
crisis  in  the  national  life,  remain  a  perpetual 
inspiration  for  all  future  generations.  Places 
like  Runnymede,  or  the  site  of  the  Bastile, 
or  Independence  Hall  become  shrines  for 
patriotic    pilgrimages.     Patriotic    deeds    and 


238        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

patriotic  graves  kindle  patriotic  zeal  in  the 
growing  youth.  The  Germans  build  a  monu- 
ment to  Hermann,  and  every  Frenchman  who 
visits  the  tom.b  of  Napoleon  today  feels  the 
inspiration  that  comes  from  a  great  past  and 
fires  the  heart  vAth  patriotic  devotion.  A 
nation's  battlefields  do  this  work  even  more 
effectually,  To  this  day  the  field  of  Marathon 
and  the  bay  of  Salarnis  tell  the  Greeks  of  the 
valor  and  glory  of  their  fathers  and  stimulate 
their  loyalty.  And  when  on  a  historic 
battlefield  a  worthy  monument  is  raised  we 
have  a  teacher  of  patriotism  beyond  all  others 
eloquent.  At  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone 
of  Bunker  HiU  Wesbter  said:  "We  rear 
here  a  monument  to  which  the  nation  may 
turn  in  moments  of  disaster  and  realize  that 
the  foundation  still  stands  strong."  There 
is  strength  beneath  such  a  monument  that 
cannot  be  measured  by  the  eye.  A  nation's 
monumxcnts   become   its   arsenals. 

Thus  we  have  traced  the  natural  history 
of  that  complex  feeling  which  we  call  patriot- 
ism and  we  see  how  many  factors  enter  into 
it  which  make  for  social  and  national  per- 
manence. And  thus  we  see  also  how  the 
power  of  correlative  habit  gathers  up  all  the 
forces  of  social  life,  both  organized  and  un- 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  239 

organized  and  unites  them  into  one  great 
national  sentiment  of  solidarity  and  binds 
their  successive  generations  of  citizens  to- 
gether  into   an   enduring   nation. 

We  have  still  to  consider  the  tendencies  of 
religion  to  permanence.  We  shall  find  that 
both  in  its  personal  and  in  its  social  forms, 
all  the  conditions  of  permanence  which  we 
have  described  are  fulfilled  in  the  highest 
degree. 

In  the  first  place,  religion  fulfills  the  con- 
dition that  all  the  factors  of  a  permanent 
system  shall  be  durable.  The  most  durable 
factor  in  human  life  is  the  ideal,  because  of 
its  spiritual  nature  and  its  independence  of 
local  or  material  conditions.  Kence  religion 
is  strengthened  not  weakened  by  its  detach- 
ment from  tangible  objects.  Let  an  indi- 
vidual be  removed  from  one  field  of  labor  to 
another,  and  all  the  outer  manifestations  of 
his  life  must  be  modified  to  suit  his  new  sur- 
roundings. But  his  religion,  consisting  as  it 
does  in  a  secret  communion  with  God,  in  a 
vision  of  the  soul  rather  than  of  the  bodily 
eye,  need  undergo  no  change  when  transferred 
to  the  new  environment.  And  the  social 
bond  created  by  religion  can  imite  men,  not- 
withstanding   all    differences    of    occupation, 


2  40         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

language  and  race,  in  the  imperishable  ties 
of  a  common  faith  and  spiritual  fellowship. 
Thus  though  the  outer  life  varies  the  spiritual 
life  may  hold  its  character  unaltered,  even 
when  men  pass  to  another  land  or  another 
world. 

In  the  second  place,  religion  fulfills  to  a 
superlative  degree  the  condition  that  a  per- 
manent system  must  be  internally  harmonious. 
It  is  the  function  of  religion  to  coordinate  all 
man's  higher  faculties,  so  as  to  establish 
within  the  individual  life  the  true  spiritual 
order.  Conscience  and  affection  in  their  sub- 
tlest manifestations  are  woven  into  a  single 
whole.  In  the  religious  life  the  various 
activities  of  the  individual  are  brought  into 
a  unity,  in  which  they  may  be  freely  exercised 
but  in  which  they  are  controlled  by  a  prin- 
ciple which  defines  their  greatest  good.  In  a 
similar  way,  religion  brings  all  the  various 
interests  of  a  community  into  harmonious 
relations.  To  it  as  the  paramount  interest, 
all  other  interests  are  subordinated.  Religion 
thus  tends  to  eliminate  factions  and  to  unite 
all  the  elements  of  society  in  cooperative 
activities.  It  is  religion  more  than  any  other 
institution  which  engages  all  men  in  one  task 
and  promotes  fraternal  relations  among  them. 


TENDENCIES  TO  PERMANENCE  241 

In  the  third  place,  through  rehgion  both 
the  individual  and  society  are  adjusted  to  the 
ultimate  environment,  to  that  moral  system 
upon  which  in  the  last  analysis  they  depend. 
Such  an  adjustment  to  the  moral  environ- 
ment takes  precedence  over  any  narrower  or 
lesser  adjustment,  since  discord  with  the  moral 
plan  will,  in  due  season,  over-rule  any  form 
of  harmony  which  may  be  established  within 
the  narrower  limits  of  society. 

In  the  fourth  place,  religion  acquires  per- 
manence from  its  fulfillment  of  the  conditions 
of  habit.  Habit,  as  we  have  seen,  is  based 
fundamentally  on  repetition.  In  religion  repe- 
tition appears  in  the  periodic  recurrence  of 
acts  of  worship.  Religious  exercises  are  de- 
signedly arranged  on  this  principle,  as  is 
illustrated  by  the  observance  of  family  wor- 
ship and  by  the  recurring  services  of  the  Lord's 
Day,  which  have  left  their  mark  on  the 
history  of  Christendom.  Customs  like 
these  that  have  survived  through  genera- 
tions are  stronger  than  national  ties,  and  will 
not  be  changed  unless  new  conditions  impera- 
tively require  it;  and  then  the  change  is 
made  in  safety,  because  past  habits  force 
every  new  step  to  be  taken  slowly,  with 
caution  and  against  the  retarding  operation 
of  that  which  is  comparatively  fixed. 


242        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

Such  conservatism  is  wholesome  both  for 
the  individual  and  for  the  community,  and 
religion  may  be  reckoned  as  a  most  stable 
force  in  life  because  it  resists  reckless  in- 
novations that  might  endanger  the  deepest 
concerns. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  strength  of  habit  is 
greatly  enhanced  when  activities  are  ac- 
companied by  an  ever-renewed  emotional 
interest,  and  this  is  peculiarly  the  case  in 
religion.  Individuals  and  communities  that 
are  habitually  religious  do  not  on  that  ac- 
count cease  to  feel  deeply.  On  the  contrary, 
the  religious  emotions,  which  are  always  the 
deepest  and  most  stirring  of  all,  grow  in  in- 
tensity and  vi'vidness  when  they  become  an 
inseparable  part  of  the  daily  life. 

Thus  we  see  in  religion  the  greatest  of  all 
the  principles  that  make  for  stability  in  both 
society  and  the  individual.  By  its  command- 
ing spiritual  authority  it  rebukes  the  anarchic 
and  destructive  passions  which  would  work 
social  and  individual  ruin  if  left  to  themselves. 
By  its  alliance  with  the  unseen  and  eternal, 
it  also  furnishes  the  strongest  inspiration  for 
the  good  and  sane  and  joyous  life  which  is 
the    supreme    condition   of   permanence. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

PROGRESS    OF    INDIVIDUALISM 

THROUi^H     SOCIAL 

EVOLUTION. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  seen  the 
supreme  importance  of  permanence  as  a  con- 
dition of  human  progress.  This  permanence 
is  chiefly  expressed  in  the  social  framework: 
the  laws,  customs,  traditions  and  institutions 
of  society,  and  also  in  its  great  systems  of 
religious  belief.  Into  this  system  we  are  born, 
and  by  it  we  are  moulded  and  controlled. 
These  facts  at  once  raise  the  question :  What 
provision  does  the  social  order  make  for  the 
power  of  the  individual?  Must  he  merely 
take  the  stamp  of  society  and  become  in 
everything  that  he  says  and  does  a  mere  echo 
of  the  community  in  which  he  lives?  We 
have  already  discussed  this  question  to  some 
extent  in  treating  of  the  Social  System  and 
of  Individual  Initiative,  but  we  must  now 
study  it  from  another  point  of  view — that  of 

243 


2  44        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

social  evolution.  Such  a  study  will  show 
that  social  progress  constantly  gives  the  in- 
dividual greater  scope  for  development  and 
larger  opportunities  for  work  and  influence. 
He  has  more  and  more  freedom  to  realize 
himself  and  more  power  to  give  effect  to  his 
own  personal  choices.  He  need  not  be  a  mere 
social  echo.  He  can  be  a  living  voice  having 
his  own  specific  quality  and  utterance. 

Human  origins  lie  in  an  obscure  region 
which  history  cannot  penetrate.  But  by 
inference  from  known  facts  and  existing  laws, 
we  can  get  some  insight  into  conditions  much 
earlier  than  our  own.  It  is  plain  that  some 
measure  of  cooperation  and  social  feeling 
was  necessary  to  human  existence  from  the 
start.  This  was  provided  for  in  parental  and 
social  instincts,  which  resulted  in  families, 
clans  and  tribes — the  beginnings  of  social 
structure.  These  instinctive  impulses  were 
soon  and  powerfully  reenforced  by  the  social 
necessities  that  declared  themselves.  As  we 
saw  in  treating  of  the  Social  System,  the 
individual  needs  the  support  of  his  neighbors 
in  order  to  exist  at  all.  This  fundamental 
need  is  the  root  of  social  and  political  develop- 
ment. 


PROGRESS  OF  IXDIVIDUALISM  245 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  social  order  is 
rooted  in  human  nature  and  human  needs. 
Hobbes's  assertion  that  the  primal  condition 
of  mankind  was  the  "war  of  all  against  all" 
is,  if  taken  literally,  a  grotesque  Hbel  upon 
humanity.  It  has  some  truth  when  applied 
to  the  relations  of  different  tribes  but  it  is 
psychologically  absurd  and  historically  false 
when  applied  to  the  relations  of  individuals 
in  general.  The  notion  of  a  "  Social  contract" 
whereby  men  emerged  from  this  belHgerent 
"state  of  nature"  is  equally  baseless.  Man 
can  exist  only  in  some  social  form  and  through 
some  measure  of  social  cooperation.  Mi.n's 
dependence  upon  his  fellows  and  this  neces- 
sity of  social  cooperation  increase  with  eco- 
nomic and  social  progress. 

Man  learns  to  govern  himself  only  through 
the  subjection  of  the  wa>"^vard  indi\idual 
will  to  some  external  authority.  This  au- 
thority may  be  the  will  of  the  superior,  the 
binding  custom  of  the  community  or  the 
supernatural  sanctions  of  religion.  The  first 
step  in  social  progress  was  therefore  the 
establishment   of   a   stable   social   order. 

Tribal  society  frequently  develops  in  cer- 
tain aspects  a  complex  and  permanent  order. 
The  freedom  of  the  savage  exists  only  in  the 


246        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

imagination  of  the  over-civilized;  in  reality 
his  life  is  determined  on  every  hand  by  an 
unwritten  law  enforced  for  the  common  good 
by  the  common  will  which  ruthlessly  destroys 
the  unsubmissive. 

Civilization  has  its  origins  in  the  Orient. 
Natural  conditions  compelled  men  to  unite 
in  great  cooperative  works  for  the  public 
welfare,  as  in  the  valleys  of  the  Nile,  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Hoang-ho.  In  such  peace- 
ful enterprises  rather  than  in  adventures  of 
war  capable  and  permanent  leaders  of  men 
are  demanded  and  developed,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  city-states  are  laid.  Conflicts  for 
supremacy  or  the  pressure  of  hostile  neigh- 
bors lead  to  the  consolidation  of  these  states 
in  national  monarchies  as  in  Egypt  and  Baby- 
lonia. At  every  stage  of  this  progress,  as  the 
duties  of  the  individual  to  his  fellows  and  to 
his  superiors  become  more  numerous  and 
varied,  so  with  equal  step  his  rights  are  better 
defined  and  more  secure.  His  freedom  to 
make  and  live  his  own  life  is  enlarged.  The 
king  becomes  the  defender  of  the  defenceless 
and  restrains  or  coerces  the  oppressor.  Law 
is  no  longer  merely  immemorial  prescription 
adapted  perhaps  to  conditions  which  have 
passed    away;  intelligent    legislation    begins. 


PROGRESS  OF  INDIVIDUALISM  247 

The  ruler  may  be  nominally  absolute,  but  his 
arbitrary  will  has  many  effective  checks, 
such  as  a  hereditary  aristocracy,  established 
custom  having  the  force  of  law  and  religion 
represented  by  the  growing  corporate  power 
of  the  priesthood.  The  most  effective  check 
of  all  is  the  moral  sense  of  the  people.  Ahab 
may  get  Naboth's  vineyard,  but  he  seals  the 
doom  of  his  dynasty  by  this  outrage. 

The  economic  complexity  of  developed 
civilization  opened  more  varied  opportunities 
to  the  individual.  The  enterprising  mxan 
might  gain  wealth  and  wealth  was  power. 
The  arts  flourished  and  multiplied  stimulating 
the  aesthetic  gifts.  The  foundations  of  sci- 
ence were  laid.  Intellectual  power  began 
to  count  for  more  than  bodily  strength  and 
courage    or   hereditary    station. 

With  all  their  shortcomings  the  ancient 
monarchies  made  large  contribution  not  only 
to  civilization  but  to  the  development  of  in- 
dividuality. They  gave  little  opportunity 
how^ever  to  the  masses  of  men  to  participate 
in  the  ordering  of  affairs,  in  the  choice  of 
rulers  or  in  the  making  of  laws.  The  great 
sphere  of  political  activity,  the  high-school 
of  free  individuality,  was  closed  to  all  but  a 
few.     It  was  in  opening  these  closed  doors 


248        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

that  the  Greek  cities  did  their  great  work 
in  the  education  of  mankind.  With  their 
conception  of  at  least  some  men  as  free-born 
citizens,  the  Greeks  recognized  the  rights  and 
possibiHties  of  the  individual  and  initiated 
our  modern  ideas  of  government.  For  Greek 
humanism  found  its  deepest  and  most  signifi- 
cant expression  in  political  institutions.  The 
Oriental  monarchies  had  secured  that  social 
discipline  and  stability  without  which  there 
can  be  no  civilization;  but  they  ignored  the 
right  of  the  governed  to  take  part  in  the 
government.  It  was  the  Greek  democracy 
which  first  asserted  the  principle  that  the 
state  is  more  noble  than  the  private  indi- 
vidual only  because  the  state  is  the  indi- 
vidual's true  sphere,  the  proper  environment 
in  which  he  can  best  develop  his  powers. 
Patriotism  has  never  glowed  more  intensely 
than  among  the  Greeks  and  this  very  loyalty 
to  institutions  showed  the  individual's  sense 
of  his  proprietary  interest  in  them.  Aris- 
totle's oft-quoted  assertion  that  "man  is  a 
political  animal"  was  based  upon  observation 
of  his  fellow-citizens.  The  Greeks  were  in- 
deed "political  animals"  as  no  race  before 
them  had  been.  "Their  grand  object,"  says 
Hegel,  "was  their  country  in  its  actual  and 


PROGRESS  OF  I\ DIVIDUALISM  249 

living  aspect :  this  actual  Athens,  this  Sparta, 
these  temples,  these  altars,  this  form  of 
social  life,  this  union  of  fellow-citizens,  these 
manners  and  customs,  without  which  exis- 
istence    was    impossible." 

The  Athenian  was  a  real  citizen ;  he  was  no 
mere  subject.  He  belonged  to  a  privileged 
minority  it  is  true  but  in  him  a  long  step  had 
been  taken  toward  the  recognition  of  the 
political  rights  of  man.  If  we  examine  the  con- 
ditions which  surrounded  the  ordinary  Greek, 
say  of  Athens  in  the  time  of  Pericles,  we  note 
two  things  which  distinguished  his  environ- 
ment from  that  of  his  Oriental  contemporary : 
the  first  concerns  his  position  in  the  state; 
the  second,  his  position  in  society. 

The  Athenian  w^as  not  like  the  Oriental, 
a  pawn  to  be  used  in  the  game  his  state 
happened  to  be  playing.  On  the  contrar}'-, 
he  was  free  to  do  as  he  would,  so  long  as  he 
did  not  transgress  the  laws,  and  the  laws  were 
of  his  own  making.  Hence  he  was  rather  a 
participating  member  of  the  state  than  a  sub- 
ject, and  the  small  extent  of  his  country 
made  the  participation  of  real  moment. 
He  appeared  in  the  ecclesia,  and  there  had  a 
voice  in  the  settlement  of  public  questions. 
He  also  had  his  share  in  the  election  of  the 


250        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

governing  officials,  both  civil  and  military. 
He  was  a  Heliast,  one  of  the  paid  jurymen, 
and  as  such  not  only  assisted  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  and  the  enactment  of  new 
laws  but  in  many  other  duties  as  well.  The 
highest  office  was  not  beyond  his  reach,  for 
the  many  subsidiary  offices  would  give  him 
a  start  in  public  life;  and  once  started,  a 
capable  m.an  had  no  difficulty  in  rising. 

The  Athenian  was  free  from  the  trammels 
of  caste;  instead  of  being  born  into  a  status 
he  was  born  into  almost  limitless  opportunity. 
He  was  not  committed  once  and  for  all  to 
some  special  form  of  livelihood  but  was  taught 
to  look  upon  life  as  an  opportunity  to  improve 
himself,  to  multiply  his  resources  and  to  find 
his  own  ideal  of  happiness.  He  grew  up  in 
an  atmosphere  favorable  to  the  development 
of  his  powers  and  was  educated  and  trained 
for  free  and  liberal  pursuits.  He  became 
familiar  with  the  m_asterpieces  of  literature, 
learned  the  art  of  music  and  witnessed  the 
plays  of  the  tragedians;  when  he  walked  in 
the  streets  and  public  places  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  works  of  architects,  sculptors 
and  painters,  and  could  converse  with  emi- 
nent teachers  and  philosophers. 


PROGRESS  OF  IXDIVIDUALISM  251 

In  the  field  of  religious  activity,  also,  the 
average  Greek  citizen  had  much  larger  indi- 
vidual scope  and  influence.  While  his  re- 
ligion was  largely  a  matter  of  ritual,  he  was 
still  free  to  perform  private  acts  of  worship 
for  himself.  This  made  his  religion  a  matter 
of  greater  concern  to  himself  individually 
and  to  his  family.  In  the  most  solemn  pub- 
lic acts  of  religion  when  the  greater  gods  were 
worshipped  he  could  him.self  take  part  and 
feel  at  once  the  ties  that  bound  him  not  only 
to  the  gods  but  also  to  all  his  fellow  Greeks. 
These  greater  gods  whom  he  worshipped  were 
more  human  than  the  gods  in  the  previous 
periods;  and  worship  of  them  therefore  had 
a  more  beneficent  influence  upon  him  and 
more  power  in  moulding  the  life  of  the  nation. 
A  few  great  minds  of  Greece  came  to  hold 
high  conception  of  religion  as  a  profoundly 
personal  relation  between  God  and  the  soul, 
righteousness  instead  of  ritual  being  all- 
important. 

It  was  this  extraordinarily  stimulating  and 
responsive  life  that  made  Athens  the  center 
of  the  world's  culture,  and  enabled  her  to 
hold  that  position  long  after  her  decline  be- 
gan. These  conditions  provided  an  oppor- 
tunity such  as  had  never  before  existed  for 


252        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  working  of  germinal  influences.  Bagehot 
calls  the  time  of  Pericles  the  "Age  of  Dis- 
cussion." "The  effect  of  fundamental  poli- 
tical discussion,"  he  writes,  "was  the  same 
in  ancient  as  in  modern  times.  The  whole 
customary  ways  of  thought  were  at  once 
shaken  by  it,  and  shaken  not  only  in  the  clos- 
ets of  philosophers,  but  in  the  common 
thought  and  daily  business  of  ordinary  men." 
The  "liberation  of  humanity,'  as  Goethe  used 
to  call  it,  the  deliverance  of  men  from  the 
yoke  of  inherited  usage  and  of  rigid  un- 
questionable law,  was  begun  in  Greece." 
There,  as  Hegel  says,  the  individual  became 
curious,  inquisitive  and  reflective.  He  "was 
moved  to  wonder  at  the  natural  in  nature." 
The  problems  and  ideas  with  which  he  dealt 
were  at  the  basis  of  all  later  civilizations. 
While  Oriental  society  became  stereotyped 
in  monotonous  repetition,  Greek  society  was 
stimulating  and  progressive.  The  individual 
reverenced  the  past  but  was  not  enslaved  by 
it.  He  remained  capable  of  continuous 
growth  and  worked  for  social  progress.  The 
permanence  of  his  institutions  was  the  per- 
manence of  a  growing  life  not  of  stagnation. 
Yet  Greece  also  like  the  Orient  miade  noth- 
ing perfect.     Greece  made  priceless  contribu- 


PROGRESS  OF  IX DI VI DUALISM  253 

tions  to  human  progress,  but  they  had  to  be 
wrought  into  permanent  political  form  else- 
where. Greece  itself  declined,  and  for  various 
reasons.  One  was  the  rivalry  of  the  leading 
and  often  hostile  cities  which  kept  the  Greeks 
divided  into  a  number  of  petty  states .  They 
never  learned  the  lesson  of  cooperation. 
Hence  they  wrangled  with  one  another  in 
exhausting  strife  until  at  last  they  fell  before 
the  Macedonian  power.  In  the  second  place, 
the  extravagance  of  individualism,  product 
in  part  of  historical  causes,  in  part  of  the 
sophistic  philosophy,  dissolved  the  old  pa- 
triotism in  universal  selfishness — every  man 
for  himself.  Another  reason  was  that  the 
spirit  of  free  inquiry  which  advanced  the 
Greek  so  far  in  science  and  philosophy  and 
literature,  turned  at  last  upon  the  customs, 
traditions  and  ideas  which  were  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Greek  religion,  and  subjected  them 
to   destructive   criticism. 

Rome  began  as  a  city-state,  monarchial 
in  form,  but  with  a  large  measure  of  civic 
freedom;  conquest  strengthened  the  power 
of  the  king,  but  when  the  rule  of  the  Tarquins 
became  arbitrary  the  old  free  spirit  asserted 
itself  and  established  the  Republic.  The 
Romans  possessed  what  the  Greeks  lacked, 


254        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

the  power  of  combination  and  a  genius  for 
administration.  Expansion  abroad  and  cor- 
ruption at  home  brought  about  the  fall  of  the 
Republic;  but  the  Empire  preserved  not  only 
the  forms  but  in  large  measure  the  reality  of 
the  ancient  liberties.  The  Roman  Empire 
was  not  an  absolute  monarchy  of  the  Oiiental 
type,  but  in  theory  at  least  a  legal  state,  in 
which  the  rights  of  the  individual  citizen 
were   securely  guarded. 

The  privileges  of  the  law  were  not  confined 
to  those  who  were  Roman  born.  They  might 
be  extended  to  foreigners  and  even  to  freed- 
men.  The  citizenship  was  successively  en- 
larged, till  it  took  in  the  great  mass  of  the 
provincials.  Race  therefore  was  no  longer 
the  determining  factor  in  securing  the  privi- 
leges  of   citizenship. 

The  benefit  of  this  wide  sv/ay  of  good  gov- 
ernment was  enjoyed  by  all  classes.  In  the 
agricultural  provinces  the  farmer  and  the 
vine-dresser  lived  in  peace  and  plenty.  Com- 
merce developed  as  wars  decreased;  and  the 
empire  was  made  safe  and  accessible  for  travel 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  The  average 
man  therefore  who  engaged  in  the  production 
of  wealth  or  in  its  exchange  in  near  or  distant 
places,  had  a  better  chance  both  to  work  and 


PROGRESS  OF  IXDIVIDCALISM  255 

to  prosper  than  under  any  earlier  regime. 
Life  and  property  were  much  safer  than  in 
any  previous  age.  Religiously  the  Roman 
citizen  was  in  much  the  same  position  as  the 
Greek.  <• 

The  Stoic  philosophy  which  flourished  in 
the  first  three  centuries  of  the  empire  con- 
tributed much  to  the  growth  of  individualism 
and  of  cosmopolitanism.  The  individual  in 
the  freedom  wisdom  gave  was  the  supreme 
worth — whether  by  station  he  was  emperor 
or  slave — and  a  man  was  a  man,  of  whatever 
race  or  speech. 

The  later  empire  took  on  more  and  more 
the  character  of  an  Oriental  despotism; 
but  even  through  its  period  of  decline,  it  w^ent 
on  perfecting  the  system  of  law  which  is 
Rome's  greatest  legacy  to  civilization,  next 
to  the  idea  of  a  state  in  which  the  law  is 
supreme  and  the  rights  of  every  individual 
are  protected  against  the  encroachments  of 
his  equals  or  his  superiors. 

But  the  greatest  contribution  to  the  progress 
of  individualism  through  social  evolution  was 
made  by  a  ne\\'  influence  which  came  into  the 
world  when  the  civilization  of  Greece  and 
Rome  was  rapidly  deteriorating.  Chris- 
tianity made    reverence    for   man  as   man  a 


256        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

ruling  sentiment  of  its  adherents  from  the 
beginning.  And  it  met  with  an  eager  re- 
sponse from  a  hardy  race  in  the  north  which 
had  never  been  thoroughly  subjected  to  Rome 
and  was  yet  to  be  Rome's  conqueror. 

This  new  influence  sprang  from  two  sources : 
the  Teutonic  love  of  freedom  and  the  new 
conception  of  man  introduced  by  Christianity. 
The  latter  was  the  fruitful  seed  of  later  de- 
velopments. It  did  not,  indeed,  reach  its 
ideal  mianifestation  at  once.  Yet  like  leaven 
it  lay  within  the  social  mass  slowly  transform- 
ing it  into  harmony  v/ith  Christian  thought. 
The  conception  that  man  irrespective  of 
wealth  and  social  condition  is  of  infinite  worth 
in  the  sight  of  God,  gives  him  inalienable  rights 
in  the  sight  of  men.  This  thought  has  lain 
at  the  heart  of  all  social  development  in  the 
West  since  the  beginning  of  our  era.  But 
the  other  factor  referred  to— the  Teutonic 
love  of  liberty— was  also  important ;  and  even 
the  Christian  influence  was  for  a  long  time 
largely  exercised  through  the  institution  of 
the  church  rather  than  through  a  distinctly 
Christian  way  of  thinking.  We  shall  consider 
these   two   factors   separately. 

When  the  Roman  Empire  fell  under  the 
attacks  of  the  Teutonic  invaders,   the  first 


PROGRESS  OF  IXDIVIDUALISM  257 

effect  was  one  of  apparent  political  retro- 
gression. The  centralized  authority  of  the 
Empire  was  broken  down,  so  that  for  six  or 
seven  centuries,  except  for  the  brief  period 
of  Carlo vingian  rule,  there  was  that  political 
anarchy  which  is  the  most  characteristic  as- 
pect of  feudalism.  The  condition  of  the  indi- 
vidual also  was  in  many  respects  less  happy 
than  under  the  Empire.  Free  citizens  had 
sunk  to  a  more  or  less  dependent  status  and 
their  only  guarantee  against  the  will  of  their 
lord  was  an  ill-defined  law  of  custom  which 
was  a  sorry  substitute  for  the  precise  and 
well-administered  Roman  code.  Yet  the  dis- 
order that  marked  this  period  w^as  the  dis- 
order of  reconstruction.  The  old  system  had 
to  be  broken  up  so  that  a  new  and  better  sys- 
tem might  arise  out  of  its  elements.  But  the 
prior  civilization  was  likewise  essential.  The 
Empire,  in  bringing  all  parts  of  the  European 
w^orld  into  contact,  in  enacting  impartial 
laws  and  in  diffusing  Greek  culture,  had  done 
its  w^ork.  The  period  that  followed  was  one 
of  differentiation  into  independent  and  more 
or  less  equal  nationalities.  The  Christian 
teaching  of  the  brotherhood  of  men  was  also 
at  work  and  found  expression  both  in  institu- 
tions and  in  social  life.     It  w^as  realized  to 


2  58        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

some  degree  in  the  ecclesiastical  system  cen- 
tering in  Rome,  in  the  monastic  orders  and 
in  the  Crusades.  The  Western  Church  true 
to  the  teaching  of  the  Master  developed  a 
large  democracy  in  its  religious  administration ; 
while  the  State  jealousy  kept  down  every 
assertion  of  such  individualism  in  politics. 
The  fall  of  the  Empire  and  the  triumph  of  the 
Church  m.ade  evident  the  fact  that  the  uni- 
versal bond  of  kinship,  the  comimunity  of  the 
whole  hum.an  race,  could  not  be  political  nor 
even  legal,  but  m.ust  be  moral  and  spiritual. 
In  the  closing  centuries  of  the  Empire, 
the  Christian  Church  began  to  form  an 
administrative  system  that  soon  developed 
under  the  leadership  of  the  popes  into  a  re- 
markable organization.  For  the  medieval 
Church  has  been  accurately  called  a  state. 
As  no  one  can  escape  from  the  authority 
of  the  state,  so  no  one  could  forsake  the  Church 
without  being  arrested  and  condemned  as 
a  heretic.  In  other  words,  citizenship  was 
compulsory.  The  Church  like  any  state  had 
its  hierarchy  of  officials,  its  assemblies,  its 
system  of  taxation  and  its  courts.  More- 
over its  range  of  authority  was  far  greater 
than  that  of  any  contemporary  Christian 
lay-state,  since  it  included  all  western  Europe. 


PROGRESS  OF  IXD/VIDUALISM  259 

In  an  organization  of  this  extent  and  com- 
plexity, the  status  of  the  individual  is  of  the 
highest  significance.  Happily  his  opportun- 
ity was  of  the  fullest.  It  was  in  the  Church 
that  the  ambitious  youth  of  ready  mind  had 
offered  to  him,  irrespective  of  race  or  social 
position,  the  very  highest  privileges  and 
opportunities.  He  might  pursue  his  studies 
in  a  monaster)'  or  become  a  parish  priest  or 
found  a  new  religious  house  or  go  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  foreign  lands.  His  vocation  de- 
manded intellectual  culture  and  this  made 
him  a  man  of  power  in  an  age  when  there 
was  little  education  among  the  laity.  But 
he  was  more  than  a  teacher  and  preacher. 
Many  of  the  duties  later  performed  by  secu- 
lar officials  were  within  his  province.  The 
drawing  up  of  wills  and  contracts  and  the 
conduct  of  trial  by  ordeal  were  in  his  hands. 
He  was  the  copyist  of  manuscripts  and  the 
writer  of  books,  the  preserver  of  the  classics 
and  the  guardian  and  promoter  of  civiliza- 
tion. Once  ordained,  the  positions  of  canon, 
archdeacon,  bishop  and  cardinal  lay  open 
before  him.  If  made  a  bishop,  the  erstwhile 
peasant  sat  beside  nobles  in  councils  and 
courts.  He  fought  beside  them  in  the  fore- 
most  ranks   of   the   feudal   army.     He   con- 


26o         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

trolled  the  life  of  the  many  villages  which 
his  cathredal  church  owned  and  his  voice 
was  most  powerful  in  the  administration  of 
his  diocese.  Even  the  spiritual  throne  of 
the  world  was  not  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
humblest  priest. 

Here  within  a  body  recognizing  the  equality 
and  significance  of  all  members  of  society 
a  man  of  the  lower  ranks  for  the  first  time 
in  human  history  had  the  opportunity  to 
rise  to  commanding  rank.  In  precisely  this 
way  the  Middle  Ages  marked  an  advance 
upon  the  limitations  of  antiquity.  Greece 
had  maintained  a  highly  favored  citizen  class 
upon  a  servile  substructure;  Rome  upon  the 
same  substructure  had  guaranteed  to  her 
extensive  citizen  class  the  protection  of  her 
law;  medieval  lay  society  put  in  juxtaposi- 
tion the  independent  noble  and  the  dependent 
villein  or  serf;  onl}^  within  the  comprehen- 
sive church  was  opportunity  full  and  equal 
to  anyone  who  saw  fit  to  become  a  priest. 
It  was  an  innovation  of  the  greatest  conse- 
quence for  the  individual. 

This  was  the  work  of  the  Church  and  it 
was  of  inestimable  value.  But  it  was  still 
necessary  to  develop  a  similar  liberality 
within    lay    society    or    the    political    world. 


PROGRESS  OF  INDIVIDUALISM  261 

This  development  arose  partly  from  economic 
causes  and  partly  from  a  love  of  freedom 
inborn  in  certain  races.  The  process  was 
to  be  a  long  one  and  was  not  unaccompanied 
by  violence.  It  was  a  struggle  at  once  for 
industrial,  commercial  and  political  freedom. 
Beginnings  appear  in  the  later  Middle  Ages 
when  we  first  see  the  rise  of  a  new  group, 
the  third  estate.  Most  striking  was  the 
prominence  assumed  by  the  bourgeois  class 
in  the  thriving  tow^ns  of  the  twelfth  century. 
Soon  the  powerful  communes  of  Italy,  France, 
Germany,  Spain  and  England  began  to  take 
an  active  part  in  national  affairs.  In  many 
places  they  were  of  prime  importance  in  as- 
sisting royalty  in  its  struggle  with  the  feudal 
nobility.  For  the  latter,  in  the  interest  of 
national  life,  had  to  be  deprived  of  their  long 
cherished  independence.  Only  in  a  nation 
strongly  welded  together  could  the  third  es- 
tate achieve  its  own  political  freedom- — the 
goal  of  the  evolutionary  process.  In  the 
Italian  communes  where  there  was  no  de- 
votion to  the  national  spirit,  liberty  in  a 
high  degree  was  assured  for  a  time.  But  it 
soon  gave  way  to  the  despotism  of  petty 
tyrants.  Life  within  medieval  towns  was 
at  the  outset  democratic,  each  citizen  taking 


f 


262        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

an  active  part  in  the  election  of  administrative 
and  judicial  officials,  as  well  as  in  the  ranks  of 
the  communal  militia.  Freedom  was  fuller  in 
these  towns  than  in  the  Greek  city-state,  since 
they  contained  no  servile  elemxcnt.  They 
were,  as  concerned  all  their  members,  perhaps 
the  most  democratic  lay  governments  yet 
existent. 

In  close  competition  however  in  this  re- 
spect are  certain  phases  of  English  local  life. 
In  some  of  the  oldest  Anglo-Saxon  laws  we 
find  traces  of  representative  institutions. 
The  community  chose  certain  of  its  members 
to  represent  it  in  various  activities;  for  ex- 
ample, in  procuring  or  giving  information 
on  some  important  matter.  Under  Norman 
rule,  these  representatives  of  local  groups 
acted  as  jurors  and  eventually  elected  mem- 
bers of  Parliament.  Such  activity  of  the  local 
units  indicated,  of  course,  vitality  of  the 
individual  spirit  throughout  the  land.  Busied 
for  the  time  being  with  the  choice  of  a  fi- 
nancial, a  judicial,  an  administrative  or  an 
elective  committee,  the  individual  eventually 
came  to  see  that  he  could  make  himself 
felt  even  against  a  Stuart  monarchy.  Hence 
the  insistence  of  the  elected  country  mem- 
bers in  their  dealin8:s  with  Charles  I.  and  the 


PROGRESS  OF  IXDIVIDUALISM  263 

support  given  them  by  more  democratic 
elements  of  the  country  which  had  elected 
them. 

But  this  step  has  brought  us  into  the 
Modern  Period.  The  Middle  Age  with  its 
liberal  opportunities  in  the  ecclesiastical 
world  and  its  launching  of  the  third  estate 
in  the  political  world  had  only  made  a  be- 
ginning. It  was  left  for  modern  times  to 
make  this  third  estate  the  determining  power 
in  government  and  to  establish  a  true  political 
democracy.  The  struggle  was  in  general 
directed  against  royalty.  For  royalty  had 
made  the  most  of  its  victory  over  feudal 
disorder  and  had  established  more  or  less 
benevolent  despotisms.  England  and  Hol- 
land were  the  first  nations  to  revolt  against 
despotic  rule.  The  Dutch  had  inherited  tra- 
ditions of  powerful  town  governments  which, 
along  with  their  religious  convictions,  nerved 
them  in  their  struggles  with  Phillip  II.  of 
Spain  and  with  Louis  XIV.  of  France.  In 
England  representative  institutions  had  never 
suffered  atrophy,  and  consequently  she  had 
in  them  a  telling  weapon  against  Charles  I. 
The  outcome  in  both  cases  was  the  establish- 
ment of  popular  government,  though  in 
England  a  really  democratic  regime  was  not 


I 


2  64        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

possible  until  after  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832. 
In  France  the  Revolution  brought  about 
similar  results  but  by  iconoclastic  means. 
In  Germany  and  Italy  national  unity  was 
delayed  until  the  nineteenth  century;  but 
when  it  came  representative  institutions  came 
in  its  train.  The  United  States,  owing  to 
the  conditions  of  the  settlement  of  the 
country,  worked  out  practically  and  theo- 
retically, at  an  early  period,  the  problem  of 
giving  to  the  individual  the  opportunity  for 
free  self-expression  in  politics. 

The  Spirit  of  Democracy  is  the  great  charac- 
teristic of  the  Modern  Period.  For  conven- 
ience, we  may  consider  this  spirit  first  within 
the  single  body  politic,  and  secondly  in  its 
international    manifestations. 

Democracy  has  arisen  as  the  result  of  the 
struggle  of  the  people  for  their  rights  against 
the  powers  in  control.  The  internal  history 
of  the  modern  state  has  been  determined 
by  the  two  forces  of  authority  and  freedom, 
the  ruler  and  the  citizen.  Hegel  well  inter- 
preted the  trend  of  history  when  he  wrote: 
"The  Orient  knew,  and  to  the  present  day 
knows,  that  one  is  free;  the  Roman  world 
knew  that  some  are  free;  the  Germanic  world 
knows  that  all  are  Free."      To  maintain  this 


PROGRESS  OF  I \ DIV I DCALISM  26.; 

priiici]jlc,  llic  liberal  forces  of  the  Western 
world  have  fought  a  long,  bitter  and  trium- 
phant battle.  In  consequence  the  modem 
democratic  state,  without  forfeiting  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  strong  and  stable  control,  en- 
sures to  every  individual  his  participation 
in  the  government. 

The  evolution  of  democracy  is  one  of  the 
great  modern  social  facts.  Whether  in  re- 
publican France,  or  in  imperial  Germany, 
or  in  England  the  "mother  of  parliaments," 
the  popular  will  finds  expression  through  a 
suffrage  w^hich  is  now  practically  universal. 
The  will  of  the  sovereign  may  be  of  direct 
political  moment,  as  in  Germany;  or  it  may 
be  exerted  principally  as  a  social  force,  as 
in  England;  but  in  both  these  countries 
the  will  of  the  people,  expressed  through  the 
election  of  members  of  parliament,  is  one  of 
the  chief  powders  of  government,  even  if  it  be 
not,  as  it  is  in  England,  the  power  of  last 
resort.  Parliamentary  control  has  thus  be- 
come an  essential  element  in  constitutional 
monarchy;  and  instead  of  distinguishing  be- 
tween absolute  and  limited  monarchies,  we 
might  better  indicate  the  political  distinc- 
tions that  mark  the  modern  European  state, 
by  contrasting  absolute  with  limited  democ- 


2  66         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

racies.  The  democratic  form  of  government 
■  is  well-nigh  universal  wherever  the  European 
type  of  civilization  flourishes.  Num.erous 
countries  outside  of  Europe,  colonial  in  their 
origin,  Hke  the  United  States  or  the  repub- 
lics of  South  America,  or  the  nominal  de- 
pendencies of  the  British  Empire,  illustrate 
this  fact.  Every  state  grows  more  and  more 
democratic  as  the  intelligence  and  political 
capacity  of  the  citizens  develop.  Rulers 
ever3nA^here  are  becoming  the  servants  or 
agents  of  the  people  in  procuring  the  common 
good. 

The  highest  point  yet  reached  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  democracy  is  found  in  the  United 
States.  For  more  than  a  century  the  great 
experiment  has  here  been  tried.  It  has  been 
conducted  under  serious  difficulties.  At  the 
outset  the  rights  of  the  black  population  were 
not  defined  or  guarded,  and  this  omission 
brought  on  the  greatest  crisis  in  Amxcrican 
history.  Further,  the  scale  of  the  experi- 
ment soon  had  to  be  vastly  enlarged,  because 
of  an  influx  of  aliens  who  ha.d  little  or  no 
conception  of  democratic  ideals.  Hence  it 
is  not  strange  that  the  system  has  not  Vv-orked 
perfectly.  Still  the  conviction  is  deepening 
that   our  evils  nrov/  out  of  too  little  dem- 


PROGRFSS  or  IXDIVIDl'ALISM  267 

ocracy  rather  than  too  much,  and  lliat  our 
trials  do  not  result  from  inherent  defects  in 
the  principle,  but  from  its  incomplete  appli- 
cation in  our  practice.  It  is  in  the  United 
States  therefore  that  the  advantages  of  de- 
mocracy for  the  average  man  can  best  be 
studied. 

The  average  man  never  had  so  high  a  place 
and  so  many  opportunities  in  Greece  or  Rome 
as  he  enjoys  in  a  modem  democracy.  He 
has,  in  the  first  place,  Hberal  political  privi- 
leges. He  can  take  part  in  the  election  of 
officers,  and  help  to  settle  the  policy  of  the 
nation.  He  can  join  with  others  to  form  a 
party.  He  can  stand  for  office,  and  if  elected 
will  have  a  personal  share  in  framing  the  laws. 
The  modern  state  then  affords  the  individual 
the  most  perfect  political  environment  that 
has  yet  been  evolved.  It  ensures  him  liberty 
yet  places  him  within  an  order  that  both 
steadies  himi  and  brings  his  powers  to  their 
fullest  expression. 

Industrial  privileges  have  kept  pace  with 
political  emancipation.  The  workman  under 
democratic  conditions  has  greater  respect 
paid  to  his  person,  to  his  character  and  to 
his  rights.  He  has  more  chance  to  use  his 
strength  or  skill,  for  hundreds  of  new  caUings 


I 


268         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

are  open  to  him.  He  has  grown  more  intel- 
Hgent  and  can  therefore  do  better  work. 
This  encourages  his  inventive  genius.  He 
can  move  freely  from  one  place  of  employ- 
ment to  another.  He  may  combine  with 
others  and  by  such  organization  can  secure 
better  conditions  of  labor,  shorter  hours  and 
higher  wages. 

Again  the  physical  condition  of  the  average 
man  is  much  improved.  Invention  and  ap- 
plied science  are  fast  taking  the  drudgery 
of  the  race  off  the  shoulders  of  the  working 
man  and  turning  it  over  to  machines.  Men 
are  better  housed,  eat  better  food  and  enjoy 
more  comforts.  The  progress  of  medical 
and  sanitary  science  has  greatly  increased 
the  length  of  life.  Many  diseases  once  widely 
fatal  have  disappeared  or  at  least  are  held 
in  check  as  to  their  extent  and  virulence. 
Progress  in  this  direction  is  one  of  the  salient 
features    of   our    time. 

The   average  man  has  unprecedented  op- 
portunities  for  mental   growth.     Democracy 
[jneeds  intelligent  citizens,  and  therefore  pro- 
jfvides  them  with  schooling.     The  news-papers 
keep  him  in  touch  with  the  life  of   his  day 
and  generation  and  with  the  movements  of 
^the   world.      Free   libraries   give   him   access 


PROGRESS  OF  I X  DIM  DUALISM  260 

to  every  kind  of  literature.  Thus  he  can 
share  the  rich  heritage  of  the  world's  best 
thouii^ht  and  ])ecome  a  citizen  of  the  Republici 
of  Letters.  He  can  pursue  truth  wherever 
it  may  lead.  He  can  form  and  define  his  own 
opinions  in  morals  and  religion,  and  discuss 
the  same  with  his  fellows  without  repression. 

Finally,  the  average  man  has  social  privi- 
leges undreamed  of  in  the  past.  The  bar- 
riers which  once  confined  him  are  falling 
everywhere.  The  status  of  his  parents  no 
longer  determines  his  whole  career.  He  may 
rise  from  the  lowest  rank  in  society  to  the 
very  highest.  He  may  move  from  place  to 
place  and  make  new  friendships.  He  may 
form  organizations  for  his  enjoyment  or  for 
social  service.  His  influence  in  the  world 
depends  primarily  not  upon  his  birth,  but 
upon  his  character ;  it  is  not  due  to  his  social 
position  but  to  his  personal  power. 

While  the  average  individual  enjoys  these 
advantages,  there  are  anti-democratic  forces 
at  work  which  tend  to  reduce  him  to  insigni- 
ficance. Our  confidence  however  in  the  power 
of  the  people  assures  us  that  these  forces 
will  be  overthrown  or  checked.  The  way 
the  people  are  already  rising  in  their  might 
the  world  over  and  putting  a  stop  to  or  curb- 


270        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

ing  the  evils  of  swollen  wealth  on  the  one 

hand  and  the  excesses  of  labor  organizations 

on  the  other,   makes  us  confident  that  the 

interests    of    the    common    man    will    secure 

perfect   safeguards  in  due  time.     The  revolt 

of  men  in  all  parties  against  the  political  boss 

and  the  downfall  of  bosses  once  in  regal  power, 

makes  us  confident  that  the  common  citizen 

will   have   greater   power,    rather   than   less, 

with    the   passing   3^ears. 

^^   More  and  more  conscious  of  the  needs  of 

rkoral  and  civic  training  of  the  youth  of  our 

lind,  we  shall  find  in  this  new  education  our 

great  ally  in  the  struggle  for  the  protection 

qf  the  rights  of  the  average  man.     The  new 

\  generation  is  being  taught  something  of  the 

I  social  system  and  the  working  of  democratic 

/  institutions    and    the    necessity    for    upright 

citizens,  and  it  may  be  confidently  expected 

that  the  new  demands  of  a  growing  democracy 

\  will  be   met  by  a  new  and   better  type   of 

\citizen. 

So  far  we  have  considered  the  w^orkings  of 
democrac}^  within  the  state  itself.  But  the 
final  goal  of  democratic  ideals  is  not  the 
perfecting  of  separate  nations.  It  is  noth- 
ing short  of  a  complete  "  federation  of  the 
world."       In    this    "  world -merger"    towards 


PROGRESS  OF  IX DIVI Or ALISM  271 

which  we  seem  to  be  tending,  national  life 
will  not  be  lost  but  will  gain  in  scope  and  in- 
nuence,  as  the  life  of  the  individual  has  gained 
through  the  progress  of  democracy  within  the 
state.  There  are  many  signs  of  the  approach 
of  such  an  era  of  internationalism.  The 
world  is  rapidly  becoming  a  "  body  economic." 
The  narrow  mercantile  system  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  has  given  place  to  the  policy 
of  the  "open  door."  Financial  centers  like 
London,  Paris,  Berlin  and  New  York  are 
connected  by  ties  of  the  strongest  and  most 
sensitive  nature.  The  cotton  market  of  Liver- 
pool responds  instantly  to  any  disturbance 
in  the  cotton  market  of  Egypt.  An  attempt 
to  corner  wheat  in  the  Chicago  pit  makes 
itself  felt  in  every  city  of  Europe. 

In  other  than  economic  matters  the  na- 
tions are  coming  together  in  a  world-com- 
munity. The  Republic  of  Letters  is  more 
nearly  a  universal  republic  than  in  any  former 
age.  International  societies  are  continually 
organized  in  the  interests  of  culture  and 
science.  Modern  facilities  of  travel  and  com- 
munication enable  the  individual  to  hold 
easy  converse  vvith  his  intellectual  colleagues 
on  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  Benevolence 
too  is  no  longer  limited  by  national  boun- 


272         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

daries.  The  oppressed  Armenians  met  with 
sympathy  and  help  from  every  quarter. 
Sufferers  in  the  recent  famines  in  India  and 
Japan  were  relieved  by  international  con- 
tributions; and  the  recent  Italian  earthquake 
furnishes  a  still  later  illustration. 

Extension  of  democratic  principles  like- 
wise encourages  the  hope  that  wars  will 
gradually  cease.  A  great  majority  of  any 
nation  are  civilians  and  upon  them  the  bur- 
dens of  armies  and  navies  fall.  They  are 
realizing  more  and  more  how  great  is  the 
waste  of  wealth  from  this  source  even  in  times 
of  peace.  War  as  an  evil  in  itself  is  now 
subject  to  constant  and  searching  criticism 
from  the  people  at  large.  The  history  of 
the  Dreyfus  affair  shows  how  even  the  most 
stubborn  and  strongly  entrenched  military 
class,  despite  its  efforts  to  mislead  and  control 
the  people,  is  powerless  in  the  end  to  triumph 
over  the  sentiments  of  a  nation  once  aroused 
in  the  cause  of  justice.  The  former  enthu- 
siasm for  the  military  class  has  died  out. 
The  soldier  no  longer  holds  the  place  and 
prominence  he  once  did.  And  this  changed 
feeling  toward  warfare  and  the  growing  spirit 
of  internationalism  tend  to  the  gradual  ces~ 


PROGRESS  OF  INDIVIDUALISM  273 

sation  of  war,  and  to  create  the  hope  of  its 
ultimate   abolition. 

Democracies,  despite  their  occasional  na- 
tional excesses,  have  proved  to  be  on  the 
whole  less  warlike  than  states  under  auto- 
cratic rule.  The  personal  whims  of  a  sov- 
ereign are  no  longer  sufficient  to  bring  wars 
to  pass.  The  whole  people  must  first  be 
aroused  to  some  sense  of  common  need  and 
of  national  wrong  before  wars  can  be  volun- 
tarily initiated  to-day. 

Workingmen  the  world  over  feel  they  are 
of  one  brotherhood  and  that  it  would  be  wrong 
for  them  to  fight  with  one  another.  Mer- 
chants have  such  important  interests  at 
stake  in  foreign  countries  that  they  now  must 
stand  against  war.  Men  of  culture  every- 
where are  bound  together  by  the  great  con- 
cerns of  science  and  learning,  and  their  sen- 
timents too  are  against  an  appeal  to  arms. 
Reasonable  men  of  all  classes  are  realizing 
more  and  more  that  international  disputes 
ought  to  be  decided  by  international  courts. 
The  Hague  tribunal  is  already  a  fact.  Many 
differences  are  settled  by  arbitration  now; 
before  long  we  may  hope  that  all  differences 
will  be  settled  in  this  way. 


2  74        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

This  rapid  survey  of  the  evolution  of  so- 
ciety from  primitive  conditions  to  the  dawn 
of  the  International  Period  strongly  con- 
firms our  original  thesis,  that  the  scope  and 
the  possibilities  of  the  individual  are  increas- 
ing. Social  progress  is  seen  to  provide  for 
individual  progress;  so  that  there  is  a  con- 
stant growth  in  the  number  and  variety  of 
individual  opportunities  for  effective  action. 
The  ordinary  man  of  today  can  live  a  larger 
life  and  exert  a  more  powerful  influence 
than  ever  before.  All  the  great  rights  and 
privileges  of  humanity  are  secured  to  him. 
He  enjoys  political  suffrage,  social  and  re- 
ligious liberty  and  economic  freedom  in  an 
increasing  degree.  He  is  born  into  an  en- 
vironment which  represents  the  net  gains  of 
the  race  in  the  past  and  these  are  at  his  ser- 
vice. The  political  order,  having  been  made 
pliable  and  elastic,  can  readily  be  adjusted 
to  new  needs  as  they  arise ;  and  thus  the  in- 
dividual is  able  to  retain  all  that  is  good  in 
the  past  and  to  acquire  whatever  new  ad- 
vantages social  development  may  make  pos- 
sible. The  saying  of  Horace  never  meant 
so  much  as  now:  the  plain,  well-meaning, 
ordinary  citizen  may  well  "  congratulate  him- 
self on  being  born  today." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

KEADIXG  LIFE  BACKWARD   AND 
FORWARD. 

In  the  ])receding  chapters  we  have  con- 
sidered the  individual  as  operating  in  and 
through  the  social  system.  Of  course  how- 
ever the  period  of  any  individual's  activity 
in  the  social  system  is  but  brief  in  comparison 
with  the  age  of  the  system  itself.  As  knowl-j 
edge  of  the  character  of  the  system  develops; 
it  becomes  of  necessity  more  and  more  pos-j 
sible  for  a  reasoning  being  to  trace  its  forced 
backward  into  the  past,  in  order  to  interpret\ 
their  present  significance,  and  to  look  for- 
ward into  the  future,  in  order  to  discover  their 
tendencies  and  probable  results.  Can  an 
individual  of  gifted  mind  gain  by  study  the 
increased  power  to  read  life  backward  and:' 
forward,  and  how  will  such  knowledge  bei 
of  value  to  him  and  to  society? 

This  chapter  then  is  an  attempt  to  dis- 
cover the  principles  that  will  help  man  to 
gain  a  knowledge  of  past  and  future.     From 

275 


2  76         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

our  discussion  of  the  various  aspects  of  the 
social  system  and  the  influence  that  the  in- 
dividual gains  therein  by  the  various  methods, 
certain  principles  emerge  by  means  of  which 
the  individual  can  bring  to  light  operations 
other  than  those  that  have  been  recorded, 
so  that  the  past  history  of  the  earth  and  of 
life  and  action  on  the  earth  may  be  recon- 
structed. Trusting  these  same  principles  or 
methods  of  study,  one  may  also  look  forward 
and  see  where  present  forces  are  probably 
tending. 

Obviously  the  more  the  individual  can 
glean  from  the  past  and  the  more  he  can  dis- 
cern of  the  future,  the  wiser  his  conduct  will 
be  and  the  more  effective  will  be  the  force 
which  he  can  exert  in  society.  The  historian 
looks  backward  and  teaches  the  present 
generation  the  wisdom  that  is  to  be  learned 
from  past  experience.  The  statesman  looks 
forward  and  sees  where  the  present  forces  are 
tending  and  he  points  out  to  the  present  gener- 
ation the  future  that  lies  before  it  and  the 
preparations  that  are  necessary  to  meet  that 
future. 

There  are  certain  general  conditions  how- 
ever which  are  necessary  to  provide  a  sure 
basis    for    retrospect.     These    are    first    the 


RE  A  DIXG  LI  FE  BA  CK  WARD  A  XD  FOR  WA  RD  277 

permanence  of  the  system  or  of  its  results; 
second  the  continuity  of  the  laws  that  govern 
the  system  and  the  continuity  of  its  pro- 
cesses; and  third  the  possibility  of  distin- 
guishing the  factors  and  laws  of  the  system 
so  that  their  co-working  can  be  traced. 

First  then  as  to  permanence  of  the  system 
or  of  results.  In  many  cases  the  entire  sys- 
tem has  maintained  itself.  In  many  other 
cases,  even  if  there  has  been  some  change  of 
details,  the  form  or  the  law  of  the  system 
has  remained  unaltered  and  this  enables  us 
to  make  inferences  as  to  the  past.  If  the 
entire  system  has  not  been  permanent,  still 
much  retrospective  knowledge  of  it  is  possible 
if  a  part  of  it  has  remained  fixed.  The  geol- 
ogist can  reconstruct  the  past  more  surely 
when  he  comes  upon  mountains  with  evi- 
dences of  successive  sea  or  lake  margins  still 
visible,  than  when  all  has  been  a  fluctuating 
mass  of  moor  or  delta,  with  no  single  feature 
constant.  So  in  politics,  it  is  far  easier  to 
retrace  a  long  course  of  national  develop- 
ment that  has  proceeded  along  compara- 
tively distinct  and  orderly  lines,  than  one 
which  has  been  in  a  constant  state  of  flux 
and  overturn.  It  is  infinitely  easier  to  re- 
trace the  life  of  the  more  settled  European 


278        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

states,  than  that  of  the  shifting  nomadic 
tribes  of  Central  Asia  and  Northern  Africa, 
or  the  clashing,  conspiring  factions  of  the 
South  American   Republics. 

And  yet  much  of  a  system  which  has  passed 
away  can  be  retraced  if  its  effects  have  en- 
dured. Just  as  natural  forces  do  not  work 
in  a  vacuum  but  produce  tangible  results, 
so  social  forces  leave  their  impress  on  the 
characters  of  men  and  institutions  and  de- 
termine the  course  of  events.  Racial  ex- 
perience is  registered  in  racial  consciousness, 
capacity,  customs  or  institutions.  These  are 
very  persistent  facts  and  furnish  available 
data  for  the  reconstruction  of  earlier  beliefs 
and  institutions.  From  the  laying  of  papers 
under  the  corner  stone  of  a  building  the 
archeologist  is  carried  back,  as  Herbert  Spen- 
cer has  pointed  out,  to  the  oldest  social  facts 
known,  even  toward  the  very  beginning  of 
society. 

In  the  same  way  the  study  of  institutions 
often  throws  great  light  on  the  social  and 
political  circumstances  of  their  origin.  Such 
institutions  are  concrete  documents,  which 
cannot  be  forged  or  destroyed.  De  Coulanges 
in  his  work  " The  Ancient  City,"  tried  to  show 
that    the    ancient    classical    society    was    de- 


REA  DING  LIFE  BA  ( 'K 1 1  \\  RI)  A  \D  FORWARD  2  7 .; 

termined  by  conceptions  springing  out  of 
ancestral  religion.  Again  if  the  environ- 
ment has  been  definitely  modified  by  the 
system,  such  modifications  may  disclose  the 
character  of  the  system  itself.  A  line  of 
trees  in  an  arid  plain  reveals  the  course  of 
a  river.  The  path  of  Turkish  conquest  is 
marked  by  its  blighting  effects  upon  the 
lands  which  were  once  gardens  and  seats  of 
civilization.  One  sign  of  the  advance  of 
Greek  culture  was  the  public  baths  with 
their  appurtenances  for  comfort  and  luxury. 
Each  age  has  had  its  characteristic  forms  of 
art  and  industry,  and  from  these  we  can 
recover  the  old  life  and  date  it  with  approxi- 
mate correctness. 

The  second  condition  of  retrospection  is 
the  continuity  of  the  system  and  of  its  laws 
and  processes.  The  general  recognition  of 
the  importance  of  this  principle  of  continuity 
is  due  mainly  to  modern  science  and  has  be- 
come the  presupposition  of  all  scientific  in- 
vestigation. The  present  has  grown  out  of 
the  past  according  to  laws  inherent  with  the 
system,  and  according  to  those  laws  we  read 
the  system  backward.  La  Place  traced  the 
solar  system  to  an  earlier  nebulous  con- 
dition; Lyell    brought    unity    into    geolog}*, 


2  8o        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  Darwin  brought  unity  into  biology,  by 
the  appHcation  of  the  same  principle.  This 
principle  holds  equally  in  historical  and  social 
science.  Here  too  the  present  grows  out  of 
the  past  and  reveals  the  past  from  which  it 
grew.  Without  such  continuity  all  lines  of 
investigation  must  end  in  failure. 

The  final  condition  of  retrospection  is  the 
possibility  of  distinguishing  the  individual 
factors  and  processes  of  the  system.  The 
more  clearly  and  distinctly  the  factors  stand 
out,  the  easier  it  is  to  read  their  history  or  to 
trace  their  present  working.  The  same  fact 
appears  in  details.  We  can  easily  trace  an 
error  made  by  a  clerk  in  a  well-organized 
department  store,  or  by  a  soldier  in  an  army, 
for  in  both  cases  the  individuals  hold  a  unique 
relation  to  the  whole  system.  It  is  much 
harder,  if  not  impossible,  to  trace  the  acts  of 
an  individual  in  an  unorganized  group,  where 
there  is  no  systematic  order  that  fixes  the 
position  and  function  of  the  individual  units. 

There  are  two  special  aids  to  retrospection: 
first,  disclosures  which  the  system  itself 
makes;  and  second,  the  tests  which  man 
applies. 

First,  the  system  itself  may  make  more 
or  less   accidental   revelations   of  its  history 


KEADIXG  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXP  FORWARD  281 

or  internal  conditions.  A  landslide  may  lay 
bare  the  rocky  side  of  a  mountain,  and  re- 
veal to  the  geologist  lines  of  upheaval  and 
veins  of  metal,  of  which  no  sign  had  pre- 
viously been  visible.  The  sudden  appearance 
of  mineral  springs,  and  of  gas  and  oil  wells 
makes  disclosures  of  unsuspected  internal 
conditions.  The  collapse  of  a  building  be- 
trays faulty  methods  employed  in  its  con- 
stmction.  The  sudden  fall  of  a  trusted 
citizen  often  reveals  a  career  of  vicious  in- 
dulgence which  has  undermined  his  character. 
In  nations  the  same  principle  holds.  The 
partition  of  Poland  disclosed  a  state  of 
internal  disorganization  which  had  lasted  for 
over  a  century.  The  French  Revolution 
threw  a  lurid  light  on  the  period  of  decay 
through  which  the  social  and  political  in- 
stitutions of  the  country  had  passed.  The 
Civil  War  in  America  brought  to  view  a 
whole  history  of  economic  degeneration. 

External  tests  may  often  be  applied  to  a 
system  with  the  definite  purpose  of  discover- 
ing its  significant  factors  and  retracing  its 
history.  By  a  single  observation  the  op- 
thalmoscope  may  detect  in  the  eye  and  the 
stethoscope  in  the  lungs  a  long  history  of 
disease.     The  thermometer  records  the  fever 


282        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  the  whole  body  by  taking  the  temperature 
at  its  surface.  Building  materials  are  tested 
for  strength;  machinery  for  precision  and 
durability;  vessels  for  general  efficiency. 
Fitness  for  college  or  for  the  civil  service  is 
determined  by  examinations,  which  are  in 
effect  tests  applied  from  without  to  reveal 
the  system  of  preparation. 

From  the  general  conditions  of  retrospect 
then  we  now  turn  to  the  six  methods  of 
systematic  action  which  as  we  shall  find 
facilitate  in  different  degrees  the  process  of 
interpreting  the  past. 

To  retrace  a  diffusive  system  is  to  move 
towards  the  original  source  of  a  wide-spread 
influence.  A  wave  of  influence  has  swept 
over  a  vast  community  like  the  total-absti- 
nence reform  in  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  From  the  habits  of  our  own 
times,  we  can  trace  this  moral  improvement 
back  to  its  origin. 

Succession  is  more  helpful  than  diffusion 
as  a  means  of  retracing  the  past.  This  is 
the  method  pursued  by  the  geologist  in  study- 
ing the  history  of  the  earth;  by  the  archae- 
ologist in  reconstructing  ancient  culture 
through  relics;  by  the  philologist  in  investi- 
gating  the   forms   and   relationships   of  Ian- 


READIXC  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  283 

guages;  and  by  the  historian  in  determining 
the  successive  phases  of  civiUzation.  In  the 
history  of  society  the  Unes  of  succession  are 
long  and  varied.  Each  generation  finds  it- 
self the  possessor  of  a  vast  heritage,  the 
different  parts  of  which  may  be  traced  back 
to  the  times,  the  places  and  the  social  agencies 
in  which  they  have  originated. 

In  retracing  a  divergent  system  we  follow 
several  lines,  all  leading  back  to  the  same 
point.  Thus  our  investigations  illuminate 
and  confirm  one  another  and  we  are  enabled 
to  arrive  at  more  trustworthy  results  than  in 
systems  of  the  diffusive  or  the  successive  type. 
Had  the  history  of  Rome  perished  utterly, 
the  broken  remnants  of  those  great  paved 
roads  which  radiated  from  the  capitol  would 
show  its  importance  as  a  divergent  centre. 
And  the  same  is  true  of  Rome's  place  in 
civilization.  By  tracing  many  languages  to 
Latin ;  the  systems  of  modern  law  and  govern- 
ment to  Roman  institutions ;  and  architecture 
to  the  Romanesque,  we  could  infer  that  Rome 
was  a  central  source  of  world-wide  culture 
and  enlightenm.ent.  Its  sway  extended  to 
Spain,  to  Mauretania,  to  Egypt,  to  Syria, 
to  Asia  Minor,  to  the  Danube,  to  the  Rhine, 
to  Gaul,  to  the  Bclgic  Swamps  and  to  Britain. 


2  84        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

As  we  retrace  the  history  of  these  countries 
by  means  of  records,  monuments,  institu- 
tions, languages  and  Hterature,  we  are  led 
back  in  every  instance  to  the  central  power 
of  Rome. 

Convergence  is  the  method  commonly  used 
in  tracing  events  to  numerous  and  widely 
scattered  forces.  Thus  students  of  history 
refer  the  American  Revolution  to  the  at- 
tempt to  suppress  that  freedom  of  trade  on 
which  the  very  life  of  the  colonies  depended; 
to  the  conquest  of  New  France  which  re- 
moved the  danger  of  foreign  interference  in 
a  quarrel  with  the  mother  country;  to  the 
political  issues  arising  from  the  fact  that  the 
English  government  was  too  far  away  to 
understand  the  interests  of  the  Americans; 
to  the  prevalent  contempt  of  their  feelings 
and  the  notion  that  America  was  not  worth 
keeping  unless  exploited;  and  to  many  other 
contributory  causes.  Every  epoch  in  his- 
tory is  the  convergent  point  of  numerous 
forces,  which  result  in  close  relations  between 
nations  that  have  hitherto  been  far  apart, 
in  fresh  commercial  or  industrial  vigor  or  in 
novel  generalizations  in  the  world  of  ideas. 
The  culmination  of  past  tendencies  marks 
the   beginning   of   new   movements. 


READIXG  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  285 

In  systems  of  the  germinal  type,  the  parts 
unfold  with  such  regularity  that  the  natural 
organism  can  be  traced  to  its  beginning  with 
considerable  accuracy.  Thus  the  different 
stages  of  a  tree  under  regular  conditions  can 
be  traced  to  its  germ-bud  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty. The  stages  in  the  growth  of  the  body 
cannot  be  so  accurately  traced,  because  the 
conditions  of  its  development  are  less  uniform. 
The  stages  in  the  growth  of  the  soul  can  be 
retraced  with  still  less  accuracy,  since  its 
development  has  been  influenced  by  forces 
far  more  complex  and  varied.  Yet  the  child- 
hood of  a  man  may  be  to  some  extent  in- 
ferred or  reconstructed  from  his  later  life. 
From  what  he  has  come  to  be,  from  the  suc- 
cess he  has  achieved  and  from  the  character 
which  has  developed  out  of  his  natural  dis- 
position, we  can  understand  the  meaning  of 
his  early  career,  can  note  the  emergence  of 
new  powers  and  can  interpret  the  prophecies 
which  his  maturity  has  fulfilled.  So  the 
student  of  an  idea,  an  institution,  a  nation 
or  a  period  of  civilization,  finds  at  every  turn 
as  he  moves  backward  traces  of  development 
which  help  him  to  comprehend  its  orderly 
growth  from  the  germ  in  which  it  originated. 

Finally   we   come   to   correlative   systems. 


2  86        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

These  because  of  their  nicety  of  adjustment 
and  the  degree  in  which  the  power  of  the 
whole  is  realized  in  every  part,  afford  the 
best  opportunity  for  retrospect.  There  is 
little  if  any  research  which  does  not  involve 
the  correlative  method.  Therapeutics  for  ex- 
ample depends  upon  the  correlation  between 
the  symptoms  of  a  disease  and  the  cause. 
The  physician  is  aware  that  the  proper  action 
of  one  part  of  the  body  may  be  hindered  by 
abnormal  conditions  in  another  part,  and  he 
has  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  several 
correlations  involved.  Hence  he  is  able  to 
refer  the  dragging  foot  of  a  patient  to  its  true 
cause  in  a  lesion  of  the  brain. 

The  conditions  of  social  life,  though  vastly 
more  complex,  may  often  be  read  by  a  similar 
process  of  retracing  a  correlative  system. 
The  life  of  ancient  Babylonia  has  been  re- 
constructed in  a  measure  by  means  of  large 
quantities  of  clay  tablets  still  preserved  on 
which  were  written  contracts  of  various  kinds. 
These  throw  much  light  on  the  social  con- 
ditions of  the  time.  A  hint  is  given  us  as  to 
slavery;  the  presence  of  only  three  or  four 
slaves  in  a  family  argues  for  their  use  as 
menials  but  not  for  commercial  purposes. 
The  code  of  Hammurabi    discovered   a   few 


READING  LIFE  HACKWARP  AXD  FORWARD   287 

years  ago  has  in  the  same  way  thrown  great 
Hght  on  the  social  conditions  in  Habylon. 
Ancient  relics  in  a  museum,  medals,  coins, 
and  parchments,  are  so  many  chapters  in  the 
revelation  of  a  complex  past.  A  single  paint- 
ing may  reveal  the  tastes  and  so  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  character  of  the  period. 
Four  or  five  years  ago,  peasants  digging  in 
Egypt  in  the  island  of  Elephantine  discovered 
a  jar  with  rolls  of  papyrus  in  it.  The  rolls 
were  found  to  be  legal  instruments  of  Jews 
who  were  a  part  of  a  Persian  military  colony 
at  Elephantine  from  470  to  410  B.  C.  These 
documents  supplied  proof  that  the  Jews 
had  a  temple  at  Elephantine;  also  that  there 
were  Jews  on  the  upper  Nile  in  that  period  of 
Persian  rule  and  that  they  formed  part  of  a 
military  colony  with  their  own  lands  and 
houses.  The  revelations  of  these  few  deeds 
set  others  to  digging  with  useful  results.  A 
petition  was  found  from  the  Jews  to  the 
Persian  governor  and  to  the  high  priest  in 
Jerusalem  for  permission  to  rebuild  their 
temple  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Egyptian  mob.  By  mention  of  the  names 
of  the  officers  to  whom  the  petition  was  sent 
and  also  of  the  sons  of  Sanballat  it  has  been 


288         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

possible  to  fix  the  date  of  the  Old  Testament 
book  of   Nehemiah. 

For  a  long  time  scholars  had  been  at  a  loss 
to  decipher  the  hieroglyphics  on  Egyptian 
monuments.  No  key  could  be  found  until 
the  famous  Rosetta  stone  was  deciphered  by 
Champillon  the  French  scholar.  It  contained 
inscriptions  in  three  forms.  One  of  them 
was  Greek.  Assuming  that  the  others  were 
records  of  the  same  event,  Champillon  found 
the  hieroglyphics  told  the  same  story  and 
was  thus  able  to  reconstruct  the  sacred  lan- 
guage of  Egypt.  He  then  proved  by  the  same 
method  that  the  third  inscription  was  in  the 
Demotic  characters,  the  language  of  the 
common  people  in  ancient  Egypt.  Thus  the 
key  discovered  by  the  correlative  method 
opened  the  door  to  the  lost  literature  of  Egypt. 
Cuneiform  writings  of  Babylonia  have  been 
discovered  in  the  same  way  from  the 
single  Behistun  inscription.  The  finding  of 
a  like  key  would  make  intelligible  the  still 
unread   language   of   Etruria. 

In  the  political  world  again  it  often 
happens  that  one  aspect  of  a  movement,  if 
clearly  observed,  serves  as  an  index  to  the 
phases  which  other  aspects  of  the  movement 
have  undergone.     Thus  the  history  of  repre- 


READING  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  289 

sentative  government  in  England  throws 
light  on  the  relative  importance  of  the  rural 
and  manufacturing  communities.  In  the 
same  way  the  history  of  legislative  or  con- 
stitutional changes  reveals  correlative  changes 
in  the  political,  economic  or  social  situation. 
The  records  of  Parliament  give  much  infor- 
mation concerning  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  English  nation.  The  repeal  or  enact- 
ment of  laws  indicates  a  corresponding  varia- 
tion in  the  thought  or  the  condition  of  the 
people. 

In  England  to-day  there  is  practically 
universal  male  suffrage  for  the  election  of 
members  of  Parliament.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  such  was  very  far 
from  being  the  case,  and  a  glance  backward 
at  the  extension  of  the  franchise  shows  the 
remarkable  growth  of  the  popular  power 
w^hich  underlay  it.  No  earlier  than  1884  did  the 
demand  of  the  country  population  to  be 
treated  like  the  townsmen  get  a  response, 
but  that  response  doubled  the  country  elec- 
torate. In  1867  the  working  population  in 
the  towns  had  made  their  appeal  with  the 
result  that  the  entire  number  of  existing  vo- 
ters was  thus  increased  twofold.  If  one  goes 
back   further  to   the   condition   of    1S32    not 


2 go        EACH  FOR  ALL  AXD  ALL  FOR  EACH 

only  were  the  working  classes  in  both  town 
and  country  denied  direct  representation  in 
Parliament,  but  such  prosperous  cities  as 
Manchester  and  Birmingham  were  altogether 
without  members.  One  fifth  of  the  House 
of  Commons  was  returned  from  the  co-called 
"rotten-boroughs"  most  of  which  had  a 
population  of  less  than  three  thousand ;  some  of 
them  were  only  green  mounds  or  ruined 
walls.  The  abolition  of  these  boroughs  and 
the  extension  of  the  franchise  in  the  new 
manufacturing  cities  by  the  Reform  Bill  of 
1832  immediately  increased  the  number  of 
voters  by  more  than  half.  Thus  if  the  one 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  voters  of  1831 
be  set  beside  the  three  millions  of  1885  the 
twenty  fold  increase  is  seen  to  result  largely 
from  the  rights  successively  acquired  by  the 
middle  classes  in  the  towns,  the  working 
classes  in  the  towns  and  the  working  classes 
in    the    country. 

In  correlative  systems  where  the  indi- 
viduals are  clearly  distinguishable  or  where, 
a  high  degree  of  organization  prevails  so  that 
each  individual  has  its  own  special  place  and 
function,  retrospection  is  raised  to  its  highest 
degree  of  precision.  Where  mathematics  can 
be  applied,  retrospection  is  practically  infalli- 


RE.\ DIXG  LIFE  BACK W A RD  A .\D  F'-QRWA RD  29 1 

ble.  One  illustration  is  seen  in  astronomy. 
Here  the  reckoning  may  be  indirect  and  elabo- 
rate and  yet  exact,  because  the  quantities  dealt 
with  can  be  numerically  measured  and  thus  ac- 
quire all  the  exactness  of  numerical  science. 
Very  striking  cases  are  furnished  in  the  cal- 
culation of  eclipses  occurring  in  the  remote 
past,  and  in  the  fixing  of  historical  dates  by 
astronomical  considerations.  There  are  also 
many  social  transactions  which  depend  on 
computation.  In  the  balance  sheet  of  a 
nation's  treasury,  the  slightest  discrepancy 
may  be  traced  back  through  thousands  of 
pages,  from  book  to  book,  from  department 
to  department,  and  may  finally  be  located 
with  unerring  precision.  Such  instances  show 
the  highest  form  of  accuracy  in  retracing. 
And  in  all  social  organizations  where  the  in- 
dividual has  a  unique  relation  to  the  whole 
system,  the  same  possibility  of  retracing  is 
found.  As  we  have  before  pointed  out,  we 
can  easily  retrace  an  error  made  by  a  clerk 
in  a  well-organized  department  store  or  by  a 
soldier  in  an  army,  because  of  the  unique 
relation  of  the  individual  to  the  organization. 
Having  followed  the  several  methods  of 
reading  life  backwards,  we  are  now  ready  to 
apply  the  same  methods  to  the  more  difficult 


292        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

work  of  reading  life  forwards.  Man  cer- 
tainly has  the  power  to  do  this  work  to  some 
extent.  He  lives  not  only  by  his  wisdom 
from  the  past,  but  by  his  hope  and  vision  of 
the  future.  His  power  of  forecast  is  one  of 
the  great  dynamic  forces  of  civilization. 

Such  power  of  forecast  is  used  in  daily  life. 
The  facts  of  tomorrow  are  taken  into  account 
to-day.  The  farmer  and  the  business  man 
live  their  lives  in  this  way;  and  no  less  also 
the  parents  who  have  the  responsibility  of 
training  their  children.  On  a  larger  scale 
and  in  connection  with  vaster  interests,  the 
statesman  lives  largely  with  his  face  to  the 
future.  He  thinks  of  the  tendencies  and  re- 
sults of  social  and  political  forces;  he  has 
great  plans  for  national  welfare  and  formulates 
policies  which  will  realize  his  far-sighted  plans 
and  visions.  In  this  way  he  increases  his 
social    influence    enormously. 

The  conditions  for  reading  life  forward  are 
practically  the  same  as  those  for  reading  life 
backward.  But  where  the  future  is  in  ques- 
tion it  is  necessary  to  rely  wholly  on  correct 
inferences.  In  dealing  with  the  past  it  is 
often  possible  to  retrace  and  restore  the  en- 
tire system.  But  the  future  can  be  com- 
prehended only  in  so  far  as  the  part  fore- 


READING  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  293 

shadows  its  completion.  In  the  present  work- 
ing of  forces  we  discover  the  main  outhnes  of 
the  plan  which  is  in  process  of  realization, 
and  this  discovery  enables  us  to  foresee  its 
fulfillment  in  the  future.  In  predicting  events 
which  depend  on  the  will  of  human  beings 
mathematical  precision  is  of  course  impossible. 
We  are  not  left  however  to  mere  guesswork. 
The  actions  of  man  in  the  future  will  be  large- 
ly determined  by  causes  and  conditions  which 
can  even  now  be  observed  and  estimated. 
Just  as  it  was  found  that  there  are  six  types 
of  social  operations,  increasing  in  efficiency 
from  the  first  to  the  last,  so  it  will  be  found 
that  predictions  based  on  these  types  increase 
in  accuracy  as  we  proceed  from  diffusion 
to    correlation. 

The  nature  of  the  sphere  also  determines 
the  accuracy  of  prediction.  The  higher  we 
rise  in  the  scale  the  greater  is  the  certainty. 
A  panic  in  the  economic  sphere  is  more  prob- 
able than  a  revolution  in  a  political  sphere. 
A  political  revolution  is  more  likely  than  the 
passing  away  of  a  great  name  once  fully 
established  in  the  literary  world.  It  is  safer 
to  predict  the  continued  influence  of  Dante 
or  Shakespeare  than  the  perpetual  business 
career    of    the    Bank    of    England.     Horace 


2  94        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

foretold  that  his  poems  would  live  as  long  as 
Roman  institutions.  They  have  in  fact  lived 
three  times  as  long  already,  and  there  seems 
to  be  no  likelihood  of  their  being  forgotten. 
And  since  religion  long  outlasts  nations  it 
is  far  less  safe  to  predict  a  succession  of  kings 
in  England,  or  of  Emperors  in  Germany, 
than  of  priests  or  ministers  in  all  Christian 
nations.  Forms  of  government  may  change, 
but  the  Church  will  endure  forever. 

In  social  operations  forecast  of  the  result 
of  forces  that  act  by  the  method  of  diffusion 
is  extremely  uncertain,  because  of  the  num- 
ber and  the  shifting  character  of  the  in- 
fluences which  affect  the  pubHc  mind.  Be- 
fore one  influence  has  attained  full  sway  it 
is  frequently  driven  out  by  another.  An 
author,  an  actor,  or  a  musician  who  is  rapidly 
becoming  a  popular  favorite  may  all  at  once 
find  himself  neglected  because  of  a  rival  or 
because  for  no  apparent  reason  fashion  has 
suddenly   changed. 

Still  there  are  certain  classes  of  social 
operations  working  by  the  method  of  diffusion 
which  can  be  safely  predicted.  The  spread 
of  news  or  of  ideas,  is  made  the  basis  of  very 
definite  calculations.  The  enormous  invest- 
ment in  advertising  is  a  notable  case  in  point. 


RRADIXG  LIFE  HACKWA  Rf)  AXD  FORWARD  295 

In  politics  also  the  efTect  of  any  action  upon 
public  ojnnion  must  be  considered  in  ad- 
vance. So  in  the  financial  world  both  panics 
and  waves  of  popular  confidence  are  antici- 
pated by  the  shrewd  investor  or  speculator. 
Such  a  forecast  founded  the  fortune  of  the 
Rothf-child  family.  The  victory  at  Water- 
loo by  restoiinj:^  the  confidence  of  Englishmen 
in  the  payment  of  the  national  debt  was 
certain  to  have  an  immediate  effect  on  the 
price  of  consols.  Mayer  Rothschild  arranged 
for  a  special  express  to  bring  him  the  news 
of  the  battle,  hours  before  it  could  be  generally 
known.  On  the  strength  of  this  message 
he  bought  consols  heavily  and  their  rise  in 
value  when  the  victory  was  proclaimed 
brought   him   immense   wealth. 

Prediction  as  to  social  operations  that 
follow  the  successive  m^ethod  are  much  more 
certain  than  in  the  case  of  diffusion,  because 
of  the  periodic  occurrence  of  events.  Eco- 
nomic success  indeed  comes  largely  from 
ability  to  foresee  the  movements  of  popula- 
tion, commerce  and  industry.  The  immense 
Aslor  fortune  is  due  to  the  foresight  of  John 
Jacob  Astor:  perceiving  that  New  York  would 
have  to  grow  along  Manhattan  Island  because 
of  congestion  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  he 


296        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

bought  great  tracts  of  land  at  farm  prices 
and  held  them  for  a  rise  in  value.  The  ablest 
builders  of  the  great  West  predicted  from  an 
early  period  the  course  of  those  influences 
which  by  succession  would  gradually  fill  the 
vacant  territory,  create  new  States,  and  ex- 
tend our  national  power  and  life. 

In  divergent  systems  the  element  of  control 
makes  forecast  easy.  An  individual  at  a 
divergent  center  who  controls  a  compact  and 
thoroughly  independent  organization  can  pre- 
dict with  accuracy  the  times  and  places  at 
which  his  action  will  take  effect.  Von  Moltke 
knew  so  well  what  would  be  the  consequence 
of  orders  for  mobilization  in  all  parts  of 
Prussia  that  when  news  of  the  declaration 
of  war  by  France  in  1870  was  brought  to  him 
in  bed,  he  simply  told  an  officer  to  take  a 
certain  paper  from  a  certain  pigeon-hole  and 
to    follow   its   instructions. 

This  ability  to  anticipate  divergent  opera- 
tions is  the  characteristic  mark  of  statesman- 
ship. Bismark  saw  that  the  joint  occupancy 
of  the  Danish  Duchies  by  Prussia  and  Austria 
might  lead  to  the  long  desired  quarrel  which 
should  enable  Prussia  to  oust  Austria  from 
the  leadership  of  Germany.  He  had  the 
power  to  make  that  joint  occupancy  intoler- 


RE  A  DIXG  LI  FE  BA  CK I VA  RD  A  XD  FOR  WARD  297 

able  and  to  force  Austria  to  withdraw  or  to 
fight.  And  as  he  had  borne  a  part  in  raising 
the  Prussian  army  to  a  state  of  the  highest 
efficiency  he  could  also  be  confident  of  the 
result. 

In  convergent  systems  the  possibility  of 
forecast  is  still  greater  and  the  prediction  is 
more  readily  confirmed.  In  such  systems 
there  is  a  point  at  which  all  the  forces  meet; 
the  forces  are  more  nearly  unique;  and  there 
is  less  opportunity  for  their  dissipation  or 
mixture.  And  when  forces  converge  toward 
one  result  they  will  produce  an  ever-increasing 
characteristic  effect.  The  massing  of  capital 
will  lead  to  the  development  of  industries. 
The  concourse  of  people  will  favor  the  en- 
richment of  ideas.  The  union  of  ethical 
forces  will  lead  to  cumulative  moral  improve- 
ment. 

The  social  results  of  convergence  may  be 
predicted  in  proportion  as  the  centre  is 
adapted  to  a  particular  kind  of  social  activity ; 
for  instance  when  it  is  a  church,  a  university 
or  a  seat  of  government.  A  good  historical 
example  is  the  foundation  of  Alexandria. 
Alexander  planted  the  city  where  the  line  of 
traffic  with  the  East  along  the  Nile  met  the 
convergent  lines  of  Mediterranean  traffic  so 


2  98         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL   FOR  EACH 

that  it  became  a  commanding  centre  of  trade- 
routes.  And  it  has  never  lost  its  predomi- 
nance as  the  emporium  of  Egj^pt  although 
the  old   routes  are  abandoned. 

When  a  convergent  system  is  subject  to 
strict  control  its  operations  may  be  pre- 
dicted with  great  exactness.  A  remarkable 
example  of  such  a  convergent  forecast  is 
what  is  told  of  Jomini  the  great  strategic 
analyst.  Napoleon  had  invited  him  to  take 
part  in  the  Jena  campaign  as  a  staff-officer. 
Finding  that  it  would  take  several  days  to 
get  his  equipage  ready,  Jomini  remarked: 
"  Never  mind,  I  can  rejoin  your  Majesty  at 
Bamberg."  Napoleon  astonished  and  irri- 
tated (for  he  had  confided  his  plan  of  concen- 
tration to  no  one,)  replied  sharply,  "Why 
at  Bamberg?  Who  told  you  I  was  going  to 
Bamberg?"  "The  map  of  Germany,"  an- 
swered Jomini.  "  But  there  are  a  hundred 
roads  on  that  map."  "Very  true;  but  your 
Majesty  doubtless  intends  the  same  blow  at 
the  Prussian  left,  that  was  given  to  Mack's 
right  at  Donauvv^orth,  and  to  Melas's  right  at 
the  St.  Bernard,  which  would  be  Bamberg 
upon  Jena."  "Well,"  said  Napoleon,  "go 
to  Bamberg,  but  let  no  one  else  know  that 
I  am  ^roine  there." 


READlXc;  LIFE  HACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD   200 

III  germinal  systems  prediction  is  based 
upon  known  facts  of  development.  Each 
stage  in  the  growth  of  the  embryo  enables  us 
the  better  to  forecast  the  mature  organism. 
In  like  manner  each  step  in  a  child's  career 
aids  us  in  understanding  the  mature  person. 
"The  child  is  father  of  the  man."  Educa- 
tion is  based  upon  a  similar  prediction  as  to 
the  growth  of  the  mind.  The  various  stages 
of  development  are  so  anticipated  and  pre- 
pared for.  that  one  can  be  practically  certain 
of  the  result. 

Heredity  enlarges  the  range  of  prediction 
in  systems  of  the  germinal  type.  We  can 
be  certain  that  a  duckling  will  take  to  the 
water;  that  a  colt  descended  from  a  racing 
stock  will  be  able  to  go  faster  than  a  Percheron 
colt.  Chinese  children  will  keep  to  the  Mon- 
golian type;  and  young  Hottentots  or  Pap- 
uans will  never  grow  up  to  be  Caucasians. 
In  physical  traits  the  main  outlines  of 
heredity  are  pretty  firmly  fixed;  but  in  in- 
tellect and  character  there  are  considerable 
variations.  This  is  especially  apparent  when 
we  pass  from  individuals  to  generations. 
Successive  generations  are  alike  and  also 
different;  and  in  progressive  societies  this 
difference   leads   to   continual   variation. 


300         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR   EACH 

Law,  language,  literature,  ideas  and  re- 
ligion are  germinal  forces  whose  tendency 
to  remain  essentially  true  to  their  type 
through  great  changes  and  under  special 
conditions  may  always  be  counted  on.  Thus 
it  can  be  foretold  that  the  typical  New 
Englander  will  be  a  serious  and  thoughtful 
person,  devoted  to  order  and  liberty,  as  his 
Puritan  forefathers  were.  It  can  be  con- 
fidently predicted  that,  despite  the  enormous 
accretion  of  foreign  elements  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  the  development  of 
American  institutions  will  remain  almost 
purely  English  in  type.  When  any  type 
of  institution  has  become  dominant  in  a 
nation,  it  survives  the  greatest  external 
changes. 

The  correlative  type  affords  the  possibility 
of  more  complete  prediction  than  any  of  the 
preceding  methods.  When  the  correlation 
is  close,  there  is  a  fineness  of  adjustment 
which  predetermines  the  whole  course  of 
changes  that  must  follow  the  first  change, 
and  this  enables  us  to  read  the  future  develop- 
ment of  the  system  with  much  precision. 

Civilization  itself  is  the  most  significant 
instance  of  a  correlative  system.  Its  various 
factors   are   so   interdependent   that   we   can 


READIXG  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  301 

readily  pass  from  one  to  another  in  the 
process  of  reading  Hfe  forward.  For  example 
there  is  an  intimate  connection  between  the 
growth  of  the  natural  sciences  and  that  of  the 
useful  arts.  Hence  we  can  safely  predict 
the  long  continued  progress  of  our  present 
type  of  culture.  The  more  we  learn  about 
nature,  the  more  successful  we  shall  be  in 
the  arts.  This  success  will  in  turn  constantly 
create  new  problems  for  the  sciences  to  solve, 
and    so    will    stimulate    scientific    study. 

The  correlations  which  result  from  re- 
actions may  often  be  made  the  subject  of 
accurate  forecast.  Periods  of  commercial 
prosperity  and  depression,  of  increasing  and 
waning  interest  in  literature,  art  and  re- 
ligion, will  long  continue  to  alternate  in  a 
more  or  less  rhythmic  swing.  The  definite 
calculation  of  such  social  reactions  has  often 
had  momentous  consequences,  as  in  the  case 
of  Maurice  of  Saxony  and  the  Protestants. 
Maurice's  interests  and  probably  his  feelings 
lay  with  the  other  Protestant  states  which 
formed  the  league  of  Smalkald.  But  con- 
vinced that  their  factious  disunion  must  end 
in  failure,  he  joined  with  Charles  V.  to  crush 
them  at  Muhlberg.  Equally  certain  that 
Charles's  repression  of  the  Protestants  must 


302        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

in  turn  produce  a  successful  reaction,  he 
formed  secret  alliances  which  enabled  him, 
when  the  time  came,  to  drive  Charles  to  the 
mountains,  to  rouse  all  North  Germany  in 
revolt  and  finally  to  bring  about  the  Treaty 
of  Passau,  which  gave  the  Protestants  peace 
and  equality  for  sixty-six  years. 

When  the  correlation  is  of  opposing  forces 
the  outcome  may  also  be  predicted  in  many 
cases.  Twenty  years  before  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War,  John  Quincy  Adams  fore- 
saw its  occurrence  and  its  results.  He  saw 
that  abhorrence  of  slavery,  political  oppo- 
sition to  the  aggressive  policy  of  the  South 
and  indignation  at  their  attacks  on  freedom 
of  speech  would  inevitably  bring  about  a 
conflict  and  that  when  it  came  the  free 
States  would  strike  the  chief  weapon  of  the 
slave-holders  from  their  hands. 

Obviously  the  power  to  forecast  the  future 
increases  the  effectiveness  of  the  individual 
and  enhances  his  value  to  society.  There 
have  been  men  who  could  so  completely 
discern  the  causes  at  work  in  knowledge,  in 
morals  and  in  religion,  as  to  see  the  signs  of 
the  times  and  to  stand  forth  as  the  prophets 
of  their  generation.  Such  a  thinker  was 
Bacon.     He  saw  that  philosophers  for  many 


READIXG  LII-E  HACKWARI)  AXIJ  FORWARD  .303 

generations  had  pursued  the  different  branches 
of  inquiry  merely  on  the  line  of  theory  and 
sp^eculation.  He  saw  also  the  jxiths  that  led 
to  practical  subjects  and  he  gave  directions 
for  entering  them.  By  his  Novum  Organum 
he  trained  the  minds  that  have  since  moved 
the  race.  Thus  he  stood  like  Moses  on  a 
mountain  top  and  gazed  far  onward  with  an 
unrivalled  comprehension  that  more  than 
justified  the  proud  humility  of  his  own  words: 
"  For  my  name  and  memory,  I  leave  that 
work  to  men's  charitable  speeches,  and  to 
foreign   nations   and   to   tlie   next   age." 

At  this  point  in  our  investigation  we  are 
confronted  by  a  momentous  problem.  In 
mortal  life,  as  we  have  seen,  there  are  certain 
piinciples  or  methods  wliich  enable  us  to 
look  ahead,  forecasting  what  is  to  come  by 
our  observation  of  the  past  and  the  present. 
Are  these  principles  or  methods  applicable 
in  any  manner  to  the  unseen  world?  Can  we 
extend  them  to  a  consideration  of  the  life 
beyond  the  grave? 

In  attempting  to  answer  such  questions 
we  are,  it  is  true,  no  longer  on  strictly  so- 
ciological grounds.  Of  course  we  shall  be 
applying    sociological    principles,    but    shall 


304        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

have  to  support  them  by  certain  broader 
philosophical  conditions. 

The  forecasting  of  a  future  life  involves 
the  use  of  the  same  principle  which  is  em- 
ployed in  forecasting,  within  the  limits  of  the 
natural  world.  We  have  already  found  that 
it  is  possible  by  inference  to  escape  the  limits 
of  the  present.  The  very  fragmentariness 
and  incompleteness  of  the  processes  which 
fall  within  our  immediate  observation  are 
prophetic  of  their  continuance.  We  have 
now  to  ask  whether  it  is  possible  to  pass,  by 
a  similar  inference,  from  the  characteristic 
incompleteness  which  attends  all  human  and 
terrestrial  affairs  to  a  fuller  life  in  which  they 
are  contained  and  complete. 

Any  interpretation  of  the  world  must 
assume  that  it  is  a  rational  scheme,  moving 
on  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  definite  pur- 
pose. Now  if  death  ends  all,  the  world  is  a 
failure  and  hence  is  hopelessly  irrational. 
The  power  that  has  produced  men  with  their 
great  opportunities  and  social  affinities  can 
find  no  justification  if  they  are  to  perish 
utterly.  As  John  Fiske  has  pointed  out, 
mian  considered  in  the  light  of  his  origin  must 
be  immortal.  For  what  avails  this  steady 
process  of  evolution  if  its  only  result  is  death  ? 


READING  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  305 

We    are    brought    to    a    hideous    anti-climax 
unless  the  individual  is  to  endure. 

The  incompleteness  of  a  system  foreshad- 
ows its  com])letion.  If  we  come  upon  a  mass 
of  timber  and  find  that  the  posts  have  tenons 
which  exactly  fit  into  the  mortices  of  the 
sills,  we  can  predict  a  house  and  draw  a  rough 
outline  of  its  plans  even  if  we  leave  room 
for  great  variety  in  the  finish  and  decorations. 
If  the  man  of  science  discovers  a  system  in 
nature  which  appears  to  be  interrupted,  in 
which  everything  at  the  present  stage  is  con- 
fused and  contradictory,  he  does  not  lose 
faith  in  the  continuity  of  truth.  He  has  seen 
enough  of  the  system  to  be  sure  of  its  com- 
pletion. The  forces  of  moral  character,  though 
their  tendencies  are  easily  discoverable,  do 
not  hold  full  sway  in  the  world  as  we  know  it. 
Other  forces  check  and  obstruct  their  opera- 
tion so  that  it  often  seems  disordered  and 
uncertain.  Wrong  frequently  prospers  and 
the  right  course  leads  to  seeming  disaster. 
Yet  we  cannot  think  that  the  principles  of 
morality  are  casual  or  ephemeral.  We  infer 
rather  that  the  moral  system  extends  beyond 
the  limits  of  time  and  space.  We  look  for- 
ward with  the  eye  of  reason  to  an  immortal 


3o6         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

existence  in  which  harmony  shall  result  from 
all  that  now  appears  conflicting. 

There  is  also  a  strange  instinct  in  the  souls 
of  men  who  have  Hved  deeply  and  truly  which 
makes  them  revolt  at  the  thought  of  death 
as  the  annihilation  of  their  total  hfe.  Man 
has  an  instinctive  feeHng  that  he  shall  Hve 
forever  in  realms  favorable  to  his  immortal 
nature.  As  the  instinct  of  the  migratory 
bird  foreshadows  another  clime,  so  does  the 
outreaching  of  the  soul  foreshadow  a  world 
as  yet  unseen  \\here  fuller  powers  shall  be 
attained   in   a  miore   favorable   environment. 

Moreover  there  are  certain  faculties  in  man 
which  seem  to  transcend  mortality.  One  of 
these  is  reason.  Human  life  in  its  early 
stages  is  largely  a  matter  of  impulse  or  in- 
stinct or  appetite.  When  reason  first  asserts 
itself  it  is  essentially  a  new  force.  With  its 
emergence  is  born  that  passion  for  truth  in 
which  both  science  and  philosophy  have  their 
perennial  spring.  Reason  aims  to  compre- 
hend the  universe  as  a  rational  whole  and 
to  view  it  in  its  eternal  meaning.  But  there 
are  obstacles  in  the  way.  It  encounters 
restrictions  from  its  connection  with  its  in- 
strument, the  body;  it  finds  Hmitations  in  the 
condition  of  the  objects  to  be  investigated. 


RI'IA DIXG  LIFE  HACKWA RI)  AMD  FORWA RD  307 

Yet  it  is  endowed  with  I  he  capacity  for 
further  inquiry;  it  feels  longing  aspirations 
to  continue  the  quest.  No  such  faculty  as 
this  can  find  full  satisfaction  in  three  score 
years  and  ten.  By  its  very  nature  reason 
takes  hold  on  eternity. 

Nor  is  reason  all;  there  are  other  forces 
which  man  will  do  well  to  consider.  There 
are  ties  of  kindred  which  are  among  the 
earliest  impulses  of  rational  life.  There  are 
bonds  of  friendship  which  are  not  formed 
until  later  years.  These  are  felt  when  persons 
entertaining  the  same  views  of  important 
social  questions  are  brought  together.  They 
grow^  out  of  similar  tastes  in  music  and  art; 
or  out  of  similar  principles  respecting  reform, 
benevolence  and  religion;  or  out  of  those 
more  subtle  affinities  which  lead  to  mutual 
regard  and  helpfulness.  They  are  strengthen- 
ed by  toil  and  hardship  endured  in  common 
for  the  good  of  humanity.  When  one  mem- 
ber of  a  circle  of  friends  bound  together  by 
such  ties  as  these  is  called  away,  there  is  an 
instinctive  feeling  that  the  broken  associa- 
tions will  be  renewed;  and  this  sentiment, 
foreshadowing  a  world  beyond  where  friend- 
ship shall  be  continued  weighs  more  in  many 


3o8         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

minds  than  all  the  intimations  of  immor- 
tality which  come  from  mature  reason. 

Conscience  like  reason  is  a  naturally  de- 
veloped faculty.  The  youngest  child  feels 
its  promptings  in  simple  questions  of  truth- 
fulness and  obedience,  and  it  retains  its 
power  through  all  the  stages  of  the  soul's 
growth.  It  guides  us  in  solitude.  It  steadies 
the  heart  in  gloom.  It  is  undeviating  amid 
the  passions  that  agitate  our  nature.  It 
asserts  jurisdiction  over  interests  which  trans- 
cend earthly  empires  in  the  realms  higher 
than  imagination  can  reach.  And  as  reason 
when  it  comes  upon  seeming  chaos  holds  fast 
to  its  confidence  in  the  essential  rationality 
of  things,  so  conscience  amidst  the  complex 
and  ill-regulated  relations  of  society  does  not 
lose  faith  in  the  essential  righteousness  of  the 
moral  system.  Thus  conscience  like  reason 
divines  the  future  and  bears  witness  to  im- 
mortality, not  from  any  selfish  interest  in  the 
continuance  of  personal  life  but  by  instinc- 
tive revolt  against  the  imperfections  of  the 
temporal  order. 

And  finally  religion  which  involves  the 
highest  powers  and  faculties  of  humanity 
allies  us  closely  with  that  which  is  unseen 
and  eternal.     Man  is  naturally  religious  and 


READIXG  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  309 

the  religious  interest  like  all  other  instincts 
must  have  its  objective  correlate.  Men  have 
always  been  haunted  by  an  Invisible  Presence, 
which  reveals  itself  in  the  truths  of  reason, 
in  the  solemn  warnings  of  conscience  and  in 
the  love  of  friends  and  kindred.  The  voice 
of  the  sea,  the  roar  of  the  storm,  the  silence  of 
the  mountains,  the  splendor  of  sunsets  and 
the  serenity  of  the  watching  stars — all  speak 
to  us  of  the  Hidden  Power  which  alone  is 
great.  Religion  is  the  guarantee  of  all  other 
interests  of  the  soul.  The  intellect  finds  its 
only  sure  support  in  the  thought  of  a  Su- 
preme Reason.  Conscience  is  upheld  in  its 
dreams  of  a  final  triumph  of  righteousness 
by  the  doctrine  of  a  holy  and  almighty  will. 
And  the  heart  can  rest  in  the  midst  of  loss 
and  bereavement  so  long  as  faith  looks  to  a 
Father  in  heaven  and  whispers.  "We  shall 
meet   again." 

The  argument  for  immortality  derived 
from  the  nature  of  these  specific  faculties  of 
the  soul  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  they 
are  in  vigorous  exercise  only  late  in  life. 
Man  does  not  begin  his  career  with  these 
high  powers  in  full  use.  It  is  only  after  he 
has  lived  for  some  time  and  acquired  con- 
siderable experience  that  the  reason  begins 


310        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

to  gain  strength  and  the  heart  to  make 
lasting  friendships  and  conscience  to  become 
steady  and  strong  and  reHgion  to  assert  it- 
self as  the  great  personal  reality  of  life. 
While  they  are  thus  the  last  powers  developed 
they  are  the  first  in  importance  and  moral 
worth.  It  would  seem  then  that  the  nature 
of  the  system  which  has  made  provision  for 
the  appearance  of  these  high  faculties  late 
in  life  intends  that  the  mind  shall  have  an 
immortal  career  for  their  continued  and  in- 
creasing development. 

Not  only  are  man's  spiritual  faculties 
developed  late  in  life,  but  they  manifest 
throughout  life  as  a  whole  a  steady  progres- 
siveness  which  we  must  suppose  to  be  con- 
tinued in  the  world  beyond.  Man's  claims 
to  immortality  are  based  on  his  possession 
of  these  faculties.  It  is  incredible  that  death 
abruptly  terminates  their  exercise  and  cuts 
off  their  full  development.  Man  must  infer 
another  sphere  in  which  that  exercise  may 
be  continued  and  that  development  con- 
summated. Life  in  that  higher  sphere  must 
be  conceived  in  terms  of  these  faculties  and 
in  terms  of  their  freer  and  completer  activity. 
The  future  world  must  be  a  realm  in  which 
reason,   love  and  friendship,   conscience  and 


READIXG  LIFE  BACKWARD  AXD  FORWARD  311 

reverence  are  all  continued  upon  a  higher 
plane  where  they  blend  in  a  spirituality  of 
which  this  earthly  life  contains  only  the 
promise. 

These  prophetic  powers  and  capacities  of 
man  therefore  are  at  once  the  culmination 
of  his  earthly  life  and  the  starting  point  of 
a  new  career  on  a  higher  plane  in  the  eternal 
world  to  which  he  goes.  The  great  mark 
of  the  present  world  so  far  as  it  concerns 
man  is  its  tentative  and  prophetic  character. 
Everything  seems  to  be  a  beginning.  There 
are  buds  of  promise  but  none  of  them  come 
to  any  worthy  fruitage.  And  the  harmony  of 
the  universe  requires  that  such  qualities  should 
not  go  to  virtual  waste  but  should  be  steadily 
and  continuously  used  for  the  higher  work 
which  they  presuppose.  The  embryo  fin 
foreshadows  the  water  and  the  embryo  wing 
the  air.  Since  the  embryo  soul  is  endowed 
with  faculties  which  demand  eternity  in 
wliich  to  exercise  themselves,  if  there  were 
no  future  life  there  would  be  failure  in  the 
highest  of  all  systems.  The  apparent  law 
that  any  capacity  foreshadows  a  sphere  for 
the  completest  exercise  of  that  capacity 
would  be  broken.  In  short  as  a  world  of 
beginnings,  as  a  primary  school,  the  present 


312        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

order  is  intelligible;  but  it  is  hopelessly  and 
cruelly  absurd  as  a  finality. 

Sociology  comes  to  the  aid  of  philosophy 
and  religion  when  we  attempt  to  forecast  the 
kind  of  life  that  individuals  are  to  live  in 
the  eternal  world.  The  social  system,  as  we 
have  seen,  has  its  origin  in  man's  very  na- 
ture. As  we  look  forward  therefore  into  the 
world  to  come  we  feel  confident  that  this 
system  will  continue  in  all  its  higher  aspects. 
To  hazard  a  forecast  of  details  would  be 
presumptuous  and  fantastic  but  of  so  much 
we  may  feel  assured:  there  as  here  we  shall 
live  in  society  and  not  in  isolation.  Any 
other  inference  would  be  in  opposition  to 
the  whole  trend  of  the  evidence.  The  long- 
ing for  this  higher  companionship  is  pecu- 
liarly intensified  as  the  end  of  life  approaches. 
The  prospect  of  the  future  world  becomes 
more  vivid  with  the  waning  of  the  bodily 
powers. 

Thus  from  a  study  of  human  experience 
in  the  present  world  and  an  investigation 
of  the  nature  of  man  as  well  as  of  the  social 
system  and  its  forces,  we  have  ventured  to 
make  a  forecast  of  that  unseen  world  into 
which  every  individual  enters  at  death.  The 
principles  of  reading  life  forward  has  led  us 


RE  A  DING  LIFE  BA  CK I VA  RD  A  XD  FOR  I VA  RD  31  t, 

to  a  larger  plan  of  the  moral  system.  This 
forecast  has  an  important  bearing  on  a 
question  which  we  have  already  examined — 
the  question  of  retrospect.  With  a  knowl- 
edge of  that  larger  plan  we  not  only  gain  a 
greater  forward  look  but  also  a  greater  back- 
ward look.  This  increased  knowlege  comes 
from  a  more  complete  unfolding  of  the  moral 
system.  Now  it  is  in  general  true  that  a 
deeper  knowledge  of  any  system  and  of  the 
laws  governing  its  forces  enables  us  not  only 
to  predict  but  also  to  retrace.  For  example 
the  astronomer  once  having  attained  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  general  laws  which  govern  the 
planetary  motions  can  not  only  predict  eclip- 
ses but  can  also  discover  the  exact  time  at 
which  eclipses  occurred  in  the  past. 

But  there  are  some  systems  in  w^hich 
changes  are  not  merely  continuous  and  gov- 
erned by  law  but  are  also  progressive.  In 
such  systems  the  meaning  of  the  whole  grows 
more  apparent  in  the  later  stages;  and  it 
follows  that  these  later  stages  offer  a  superior 
vantage  point  from  which  to  understand  the 
earlier.  This  progressive  quality  attaches 
to  all  systems  of  life.  Thus  the  biologist 
can  understand  the  function  of  rudimentary 
organs  in  the  less  evolved  types  of  organism, 


314    EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

such  as  the  nervous  system  of  plants,  through 
his  knowledge  of  the  use  which  these  organs 
serve  where  they  are  more  fully  developed. 
In  the  study  of  civilization  it  is  possible  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  early  institutions, 
because  in  the  later  stages  of  the  history  of 
society  these  have  come  to  serve  clear  and 
definite  uses.  Our  knowledge  of  primitive 
man  is  derived  mainly  through  reducing  the 
present  functions  of  the  social  organism  to  a 
rudimentary  or  incipient  form.  For  example 
knowing  as  we  know  what  real  service  gov- 
ernment renders  to  humanity  we  can  under- 
stand as  was  not  formerly  possible  the  value 
of  early  forms  of  tribal  rulership,  even  where 
these  were  cruel  and  oppressive.  Thus  we 
may  understand  first  beginnings  as  contain- 
ing the  potentiality  of  better  things. 

But  these  principles  which  are  so  abundant- 
ly illustrated  in  man's  knowledge  of  nature 
and  society  apply  equally  to  the  knowledge 
which  he  will  gain  in  the  unseen  world.  After 
the  individual  has  passed  from  this  temporal 
sphere  to  the  eternal  sphere  he  will  obtain 
a  better  and  increasing  knowledge  of  the 
principles  which  control  the  moral  s^^stem. 
But  not  only  does  the  individual  thus  profit 
by  a  better  grasp  of  the  principles  of  the  sys- 


READIXG  LIFE  HACK  WARD  AXP  FORWARD  315 

tern,  he  also  profits  through  the  progressive 
unfolding  of  the  moral  system  of  which  he 
is  a  part.  His  life  in  the  unseen  world  grows 
out  of  his  life  here  and  reveals  its  meaning 
and  possibilities.  Hence  he  will  look  back 
with  deeper  insight  into  the  meaning  of  his 
whole  past  career.  As  he  looks  back  upon  his 
life  below,  that  life  falls  into  place  as  part 
of  a  continuous  development  of  which  he 
does  not  even  yet  see  the  end. 

The  illumination  which  this  life  will  receive 
when  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  future 
world  will  bring  out  the  meaning  of  all  of 
its  different  powers  and  activities.  What- 
ever of  human  experience  is  continued  and 
developed  there,  will  reach  its  true  maturity. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  future  life 
is  related  to  this  life  as  the  continuation  and 
progressive  development  of  certain  faculties 
which  compose  the  essence  of  the  hum^an 
spirit.  If  these  faculties  be  developed  there, 
then  it  will  be  possible  from  that  eminence 
to  understand  their  limited  and  faltering 
exercise  here.  In  this  life  conscience,  though 
it  is  revered  as  the  highest  spring  of  actioii, 
is  often  hard  and  constraining.  From  the 
standpoint  of  its  higher  development  the 
mandates  of  conscience  will  be  interpreted, 


3i6         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  their  fuller  significance  seen.  Here  reason 
is  baffled;  there  its  problems  will  be  solved 
and  its  very  perplexities  understood  as  neces- 
sary incidents  in  spiritual  growth.  Likewise 
love  and  friendship  and  reverence,  followed 
here  only  blindly  or  capriciously,  and  the 
source  often  of  grief  or  blind  passion  will  at 
length  stand  revealed  as  parts  of  one  orderly 
spiritual  development. 

Thus  whatever  belongs  properly  to  man's 
enduring  spiritual  life  is  part  of  one  unbroken 
progression.  The  individual's  life  here  should 
be  attended  by  the  thought  of  a  completer 
vision  of  himself  that  he  may  sometime  enjoy. 
He  should  remember  now  that  he  is  prepar- 
ing that  retrospect  in  which  he  will  be  his  own 
judge.  And  he  may  be  inspired  by  the 
thought  that  his  life  is  thus  saved  both  from 
darkness  and  insignificance,  since  all  of  its 
incidents  will  at  length  be  illuminated  and 
connected. 


CHAPTER  XIIT. 
HARM  IN  THE  SYSTEM. 

In  the  present  chapter  we  are  to  consider 
the  evils  of  society  in  the  Hght  of  our  analysis 
of  the  social  system  and  the  types  of  in- 
fluence. The  importance  of  the  topic  is 
obvious.  The  security  of  a  nation  in  which 
misery,  vice,  and  crime  exist  lies  in  discover- 
ing and  removing  the  causes.  Injury  to  hu- 
man society  takes  many  forms  and  we  must 
know  the  nature,  extent  and  methods  of  the 
harm  before  we  can  discover  its  cure. 

We  shall  first  consider  the  harm  that  comes 
from  the  abnormal  operations  in  the  system 
itself.  Social  systems  though  grounded  in 
the  nature  of  man  and  intended  for  benefit 
to  all  often  work  injury.  As  a  municipal 
water  system  will  distribute  both  pure  and 
unwholesome  water,  so  the  social  system  will 
distribute  good  and  evil. 

The  six  types  of  influence  which  we  have 
studied  show  the  same  progressive  power  in 
abnormal  operations  as  in  normal.     We  shall 

3'7 


3i8         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

begin  as  previously  with  Diffusion  the  least 
efficient    type. 

False  and  unwholesome  ideas  may  be 
spread  far  and  wide  through  social  contact 
and  imitation.  They  become  fads  or  fash- 
ions for  a  time  and  run  their  course  like  an 
epidemic  disease.  This  is  particularly  the 
case  in  modern  times  when  printing  furnishes 
so  effective  a  means  for  spreading  ideas. 
The  sensational  press  which  thrives  on  ex- 
citement and  curiosity  is  the  great  purveyor 
of  evil  suggestions.  It  creates  new  criminals 
and  furnishes  plans  and  ideas  to  old  ones; 
for  w^hen  a  crime  takes  place  the  method  of 
its  committal  is  described  in  the  exactest 
detail.  Or  by  false  and  garbled  reports  the 
sensational  press  may  mislead  a  whole  nation 
and  cause  international  complica.tions. 

The  diffusive  power  of  evil  example  is  too 
familiar  to  require  illustration.  In  our  own 
day  this  manifests  itself  strikingly  in  the  field 
of  politics  and  industry.  Corrupt  men  get  rich 
or  win  places  of  honor  and  authority  and  the 
notion  spreads  that  material  success  is  the 
supreme  thing.  In  our  complex  financial 
and  political  system  one  bad  man  who  holds 
a  conspicuous  place  in  business  or  politics 
may  corrupt  thousands  of  others,  especially 


HARM   l.\   THE  SYSTEM  319 

among  the  youth  ambitious  of  weahh  or  office. 
Again  in  the  spread  of  civilization  llie  most 
deplorable  feature  is  the  speed  with  which 
the  vices  of  the  more  advanced  races  are 
disseminated  among  savages  by  the  force  of 
example. 

The  harm  is  greatly  increased  when  it  is 
diffused  in  times  of  intense  excitement.  This 
occurs  frequently  when  the  intellect  is  weak 
and  the  passions  are  strong.  Mob  violence, 
epidemics  of  lynching  and  social  stampedes 
of  every  kind  are  examples.  A  worse  form 
of  this  harm  appears  when  excitement  in- 
vades business  operations.  For  then  it  is 
often  the  men  of  strong  intellect  who  suffer. 
In  the  stringency  of  the  market  by  the 
manipulations  of  a  shrewd  operator  they  are 
suddenly  thrown  into  a  panic  and  swept  into 
bankruptcy,  The  worst  harm  of  all  is  diffused 
by  civil  commotions.  Here  powers  of  or- 
ganized parties  are  clashing.  History  fur- 
nishes examples  of  such  commotions  which 
have  sprung  up  like  the  explosion  of  a  volcano. 
They  resemble  the  eruption  of  Krakatoa  a 
few  years  since,  when  the  dust  mingling  in 
the  atmosphere  spread  far  and  wide,  causing 
the  lurid  glare,  sunset  after  sunset,  to  be  seen 
around  the  world.     So  baneful  influences  are 


320        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

thrown  into  vast  areas  of  civil  society  by 
outbreaks  of  violence  and  spread  through  the 
moral  atmosphere  of  a  whole  nation. 

The  method  of  Succession  lends  itself 
readily  to  evil  forces;  and  the  effect  is  more 
pernicious,  since  Succession  is  a  higher  type 
of    influence    than    Diffusion. 

In  the  chapter  on  Succession  it  was  pointed 
out  that  our  own  mastery  of  the  relations  of 
space  and  time  is  of  the  highest  moment  for 
civilization.  The  development  of  facilities 
for  transportation  and  for  the  transmission 
of  news  was  seen  to  be  a  very  large  factor  in 
the  social  progress.  Obviously  this  same 
development  gives  additional  power  to  in- 
fluences for  evil.  The  Black  Death  of  the 
fourteenth  century  had  its  origin  in  China. 
It  made  its  way  along  the  overland  trade 
route  to  the  Volga,  thence  to  Tana  on 
the  Don  and  from  there  to  Kaffa  on  the 
Crimean  Straits.  From  Kaffa  it  was  carried 
on  merchant  vessels  to  Genoa  and  Marseilles. 
From  Marseilles  it  travelled  to  Northern 
France  and  was  carried  by  ship  from  Calais 
to  a  part  of  Dorsetshire  whence  it  spread 
successively  from  one  English  town  to  an- 
other, reached  Wales  and  Scotland  and  ex- 
tended as  far  north  as  Iceland  and  Greenland. 


HARM  /.V   THE  SYSTEM  321 

The  Black  Death  numbered  its  victims  by 
millions.  Had  mediaeval  Europe  possessed 
our  means  of  transportation  its  ravages  would 
have  been  incalculable.  Even  with  our  knowl- 
edge of  medicine  and  of  sanitary  laws  we 
must  be  constantly  on  our  guard  against  the 
transmission  of  disease  from  place  to  place. 
And  what  is  true  of  disease  is  still  more  strik- 
ingly manifested  in  moral  contagion.  If 
deprived  of  modern  facilities  of  communica- 
tion the  sensational  press  would  have  slight 
influence  but  with  these  aids  it  speaks  to  the 
whole   civilized   world   at   once. 

The  system  of  custom,  law  and  tradition 
which  as  we  have  seen  is  the  great  factor  in 
social  succession,  may  also  transmit  abnor- 
mal influences.  Trade  and  politics  become 
infected  by  customs  of  doubtful  morality 
w^hich  are  handed  down  from  one  man  to 
another  until  they  are  accepted  as  matters 
of  course.  Even  the  courts  suffer  in  the  same 
way,  for  wrong  traditions  become  intrenched 
behind  vested  interests.  Sometimes  indeed 
the  custom  or  tradition  was  not  originally 
bad  but  has  become  so  because  it  is  outgrown. 
Society  progresses  by  adjusting  itself  to  new 
conditions,  and  thought  by  adjusting  itself 
to  new  knowledge.     When  this   adjustment 


322        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

does  not  take  place  society  is  clogged  with 
worn-out  institutions  and  thought  is  ham- 
pered by  obsolete  ideas. 

Evil  acquires  still  greater  power  in  the 
divergent  type  of  influence.  A  divergent 
system  contains  an  element  of  danger  from 
the  very  fact  that  it  subordinates  a  wide 
area  to  the  control  of  a  centre.  When  there- 
fore some  evil  force  takes  possession  of  the 
centre,  it  works  great  injury  not  only  to  the 
centre  itself  but  also  to  the  surrounding 
region. 

If  there  is  organized  control  the  evil  is 
most  effectively  distributed  when  the  central 
force  rules  other  forces  which  operate  at  minor 
points  of  divergence.  Thus  when  a  huge 
trust  with  branches  far  and  near  works  by 
methods  contrary  at  once  to  law  and  morals, 
its  branches  must  share  its  policy  and  its  evil 
influence  thus  augmented  becomes  very  great. 

The  same  evil  may  be  traced  in  the  abuse 
of  political  power.  A  familiar  instance  is 
the  case  of  Paris  during  the  Reign  of  Terror. 
The  central  government  was  in  the  hands  of 
ruffians  who  not  only  slaughtered  their  op- 
ponents in  the  capital  but  sent  out  governors 
of  their  own  stripe  to  the  several  provinces 
with  instructions  to   do  likewise.      Some  of 


HAR^f  IX  THE  SYSTEM  323 

these  subordinates  surpassed  their  principals 
in  blood-thirstiness.  All  France  was  under 
the  control  of  a  highly  organized  system  of 
murderers. 

The  results  of  evil  forces  working  by  the 
method  of  Convergence  are  still  greater. 
The  concentration  of  bad  influences  in  cer- 
tain spots  vastly  increases  their  power  for 
social  harm  and  even  creates  such  power 
when  the  same  influences  if  scattered  would 
not  possess  it.  The  conditions  of  soil  and 
climate  which  caused  the  convergence  of 
slave-holding  interests  in  a  group  of  contigu- 
ous States  made  those  interests  well-nigh 
irresistible.  The  slave-States  reinforced  each 
other's  demands  by  sympathy  and  political 
support  and  when  the  time  came  for  an  ap- 
peal to  arms  they  acted  as  a  unit. 

The  congestion  of  population  in  great  cities 
furnishes  another  case  in  point.  The  vicious 
classes  are  brought  together  in  such  numbers 
that  they  can  often  bribe  or  defy  the  municipal 
authorities.  A  dozen  liquor  saloons  in  a 
town  of  five  thousand  inhabitants  may  be 
no  great  menace,  for  they  are  easily  controlled 
even  when  the}^  act  in  unison.  But  twelve 
hundred  saloons  in  a  city  of  half  a  million 
inhabitants    are    an    immense    force.     Their 


324        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

combination  not  only  enables  them  to  have 
laws  administered  much  as  they  like  but  also 
to  exert  pernicious  influence  on  public  opinion 
in  general. 

On  a  still  larger  scale  a  whole  country  may 
become  the  meeting  place  for  evil  forces. 
There  is  serious  danger  of  this  in  the  United 
States.  Unrestricted  immigration  has  brought 
together  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men, 
differing  widely  in  personal  habits,  national 
customs,  moral  standards  and  religious  faith. 
The  convergence  of  such  multitudes  of  miscel- 
laneous aliens  is  certainly  a  menace  to  the 
republic. 

In  the  germinal  method,  from  its  very  nature, 
abnormal  influences  are  particularly  harmful 
because  it  is  so  difficult  to  check  or  neutralize 
them.  They  are  especially  injurious  when 
they  make  their  attack  at  an  early  stage  of 
development.  Scanty  nourishment  or  irri- 
tations of  the  nervous  system  are  far  more 
dangerous  to  a  child  than  to  an  adult,  be- 
cause growth  confirms  and  develops  their 
bad  results.  The  strong  drink  and  late  hours 
to  which  many  London  children  were  at  one 
time  deliberately  habituated,  produced  dwarfs. 
The  mind  too  may  be  permanently  stunted 


HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM  335 

or  deformed  it  its  powers  are  not  properly 
trained  in  tender  years. 

Still  more  serious  is  any  lack  of  training 
of  the  moral  nature.  If  a  child  is  not  taught 
to  discern  right  from  wrong,  to  practice  one 
and  to  avoid  the  other,  a  bias  will  result 
which  all  subsequent  life  may  not  be  able  to 
rectify.  The  worst  effects  of  vicious  habits 
is  that  the  wish  to  reform  at  last  dies  out, 
or  that  if  it  survive,  the  power  is  lacking. 
"Corruption  of  youth"  has  been  a  term  of 
infamy  in  every  land  and  age.  Those  who 
by  evil  suggestion,  bad  example  or,  worst 
of  all,  by  deliberate  effort,  warp  the  nature 
of  the  young  and  infect  their  very  souls  are 
the  most  dangerous  enemies  of  society. 

Germinal  evil  not  only  checks  the  operation 
and  spoils  the  beneficent  quality  of  a  system, 
but  it  may  even  transform  the  system  ut- 
terly. Philip  II.  kidnapped  the  son  of 
William  the  Silent,  and  brought  him  up  as  a 
fanatical  hater  of  his  own  country.  Hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  Christian  children  were 
bred  into  Turkish  janissaries.  Institutions 
also  may  be  perverted.  Even  the  Inquisition 
was  not  originally  intended  as  an  instrument 
of  obscurantism  and  massacre.  At  first  it 
used   only  harmless  legal   process.     After    it 


326         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

had  taken  root  in  different  countries,  the 
eagerness  of  the  inquisitors  and  the  approval 
of  Pope  Innocent  IV.  led  to  the  employment 
of  torture.  This  spread  through  the  care- 
fully organized  system  until  its  abuses,  es- 
pecially in  Spain,  have  made  the  name  of  the 
inquisition  synonymous  with  cruel  perver- 
sion of  justice. 

The  most  tragic  illustration  of  germinal 
evil  may  be  found  in  heredity.  There  are 
thousands  of  men  and  women  whose  bodies 
are  their  burdens,  whose  abnormal  brains 
cannot  think  right,  who  are  slaves  of  their 
ill  regulated  impulses  and  ungoverned  pas- 
sions. Such  warped,  degenerate  souls  are 
seen  in  every  rank  in  society.  A  notorious 
example  is  afforded  by  the  royal  family  of 
Spain.  Beginning  when  John  of  Castile  mar- 
ried Isabella  of  Portugal  and  ending  with  the 
death  of  the  imbecile  Charles  II,  the  annals 
of  the  Spanish  Bourbons  are  the  history  of 
one  long  case  of  hereditary  neurosis,  extend- 
ing over  three  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

The  law  of  heredity  applies  to  nations  as 
well  as  to  individuals  and  families.  The 
present  character  of  a  nation  depends  on  its 
past  history.  Its  inhabitants  are  the  result 
of  the  stream  of  heredity  as  modified  by  the 


HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM  337 

vicissitudes  through  which  the  country  has 
passed.  If  a  policy  of  reUgious  intolerance 
or  foreign  conquest  sacrifices  the  best  men 
that  the  country  breeds,  the  weak,  the  un- 
thrifty and  the  vicious  will  propagate  and 
possess  the  land.  Heredity  carries  over  no 
oppression,  but  it  transmits  those  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart  which  invite  oppression. 
The  survival  of  the  unfittest  is  the  prime  cause 
of  the  downfall  of  nations. 

The  growth  of  certain  institutions  and  ideas 
may  w^ork  evil  as  well  as  good.  There  is  no 
more  instructive  example  of  this  than  the 
history  of  slavery  in  the  United  States.  Here 
the  institution  grew  from  very  small  begin- 
nings. In  16 1 9  a  few  African  slaves  were 
imported  into  the  infant  colony  of  Virginia. 
Their  number  gradually  increased  in  the 
southern  colonies  and  a  few  slaves  were  owned 
in  the  northern.  But  as  soon  as  the  sparsely 
populated  colonies  were  joined  into  an  or- 
ganic nation  with  possibilities  of  extensive 
growth  the  evil  took  a  different  and  alarming 
form.  Whether  slavery  should  be  allowed 
in  each  new  state  as  it  was  incorporated  into 
the  Union,  became  the  leading  question  in 
national  politics.  The  fact  that  the  insti- 
tution was  allow^ed  the  freest  possible  develop- 


328        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

ment  in  one  half  of  the  expanding  Union, 
and  was  completely  cut  off  in  the  other  half 
led  to  the  war  that  threatened  to  destroy 
the  Union  altogether. 

It  is  clear  then  that  in  a  world  of  germi- 
nation, evil  also  may  germinate,  and  in  a 
growing  world  evil  as  well  as  good  may  grow. 
And  often  it  grows  to  portentous  and  de- 
structive dimensions. 

Finally  the  greatest  possibilities  of  harm 
are  found  in  a  correlative  system.  Such  a 
system  implies  the  highest  organization  of 
its  members  and  the  most  complex  inter- 
action of  its  parts;  hence  in  such  a  system, 
action  for  good  or  evil  must  have  its  widest 
range.  Action  on  a  heap  of  stones  may 
leave  things  much  as  they  were  before;  but 
violence  to  a  complex  mechanism  in  any  of 
its  parts  may  disorder  the  whole  machine. 
Injury  to  an  inorganic  body  may  end  with 
itself;  but  injury  to  an  essential  part  of  a 
living  organism  may  mean  the  death  of  the 
whole. 

So  also  in  a  loosely  organized  society  like 
tribes  of  savages,  disturbance  in  one  part 
spreads  but  a  little  way;  while  in  the  highly 
complex  organization  of  the  modern  state 
and  modern  civilization,  because  of  the  close 


HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM  329 

interweaving  of  the  myriad  interests  of  so- 
ciety, evil  in  any  place  is  quickly  felt  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  Moreover,  because 
of  these  correlations,  a  small  force  of  evil 
may  have  a  great  and  growing  destructive 
influence.  As  a  voice  may  bring  down  an 
avalanche,  or  lifting  the  flood-gates  may  re- 
lease the  force  of  the  stream,  so  a  slight 
mischief  may  precipitate  evil  consequences 
out  of  all  proportion  to  itself.  This  lies  in 
the  nature  of  a  correlated  and  organized 
system  and  this  fact  gives  evil  its  greatest 
opportunity. 

Of  course  the  operation  of  abnormal  in- 
fluence in  a  correlative  system  may  follow 
any  of  the  several  types  of  correlation  which 
we  have  studied.  Such  influences  may  work 
through  indirect  action  as  when  unwise 
philanthrophy  begets  pauperism;  through  Co- 
operation as  in  corrupt  political  alliances; 
through  Reaction  as  in  the  change  from 
Puritan  austerity  to  the  license  of  the  Res- 
toration; through  Coalition  as  when  the 
representatives  of  large  interests  betrays  his 
trust  or  through  Antagonism.  In  most  of 
these  types  further  discussion  is  unnecessary, 
but  we  must  dwell  upon  Antagonism  for  a 
moment.     Antagonistic  forces  may  work  ab- 


330         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

normally  in  two  ways.  First  there  may  be 
such  a  conflict  between  good  forces  as  results 
in  a  deadlock,  and  evil  may  hold  the  balance 
of  power.  This  often  happens  in  politics, 
as  when  a  corrupt  trickster  plays  various 
moral  and  social  interests  off  against  each 
other  and  thus  is  able  to  control  the  issue 
for  his  own  bad  ends.  Secondly  there  may 
be  a  direct  antagonism  between  good  and 
evil  and  evil  may  win  the  day.  Such  a  vic- 
tory for  the  time  being  is  the  most  complete 
disaster  that  can  overtake  the  social  system. 
When  antagonism  is  serial  and  progressive 
in  its  development,  it  is  most  powerful  for 
harm.  This  is  aptly  illustrated  in  the  case 
of  a  moral  decision  made  by  a  growing  youth 
when  he  is  confronted  by  two  correlative 
forces,  the  one  evil,  the  other  good.  He 
yields  to  the  evil.  As  life  advances,  oppor- 
tunities for  evil  multiply,  and  these  are  joined 
by  the  growing  tendencies  within.  The  in- 
fluence of  that  earl}^  decision  will  ma,ke  its 
power  felt  in  all  subsequent  decisions.  The 
first  wrongful  act  weakens  self-respect;  the 
first  yielding  to  corrupt  pleasures  leads  to 
worse  indulgence;  the  first  falsehood  prompts 
the  utterance  of  others,  to  prevent  exposure. 
Thus  the  momentum  of  life  hurries  the  grow- 


haraI  i\  the  system  331 

ing  man  into  a  larger  and  larger  sphcM-e  of 
temptation.  At  times  these  come  in  such 
quick  succession  that  he  plunges  with  desper- 
ate rashness  onward  to  ruin.  A  stream 
reaching  to  the  ocean  from  far  distant  hills 
in  the  country,  is  crossed  by  a  score  of  bridges 
and  a  score  of  mills  on  its  banks  are  sur- 
rounded by  thrifty  hamlets.  In  a  spring 
freshet,  groups  gather  in  these  hamlets,  watch- 
ing the  rising  waters  with  straining  eyes  and 
anxious  fears  lest  their  homes  may  not 
escape  destruction.  The  sudden  act  of  a  boy 
above  the  uppermost  dam,  perhaps  in  sport, 
sets  loose  a  single  block  of  ice.  Borne  by 
the  waters,  it  breaks  that  dam  away;  it 
comes  down  with  the  fragments  and  with 
the  rushing  stream  and  strikes  the  second 
dam;  it  goes  on  with  accumulating  waters 
and  fragments,  carrying  away  dam  after 
dam,  until  it  strikes  the  last.  Breaking  this 
final  b£irrier,  it  leaps  into  the  sunlight,  like 
a  sword  of  a  conqueror  and  bears  the  thrift 
of  a  century  into  the  sea.  And  the  beginning 
of  a  fatal  course  of  sin  is  quite  as  insignifi- 
cant. Many  a  defaulter  looks  back  to  a 
series  of  unw^ise  risks  and  speculations,  which 
though  small  at  first,  compasses  his  ultimate 
ruin.     Mar.y  a  pillow  at  midnight  is  wet  with 


332        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

tears  from  the  memory  of  restraints  broken 
which  opened  sluice-ways  to  Httle  vices  that 
have  become  crimes  by  successive  repeti- 
tions. In  his  cell  the  murderer  recounts  the 
history  of  his  downward  course  from  the  first 
yielding  to  passion. 

We  have  hitherto  confined  our  attention 
to  the  circulation  of  evil  through  the  system 
by  the  various  methods  of  influence.  But 
there  is  harm  that  invades  the  essential 
structure  of  the  system  itself  and  impairs 
or  destroys  it;  and  this  we  call  structural 
harm. 

The  propagation  of  structural  harm  may 
take  place  in  various  ways.  One  way  is 
through  juxtaposition,  as  when  leprosy  con- 
sumes successively  the  various  parts  of  the 
body.  Another  way  is  through  subdivision, 
as  when  poison  goes  through  a  body  of  water. 
Another  way  is  through  transformation,  as 
when  yeast  transforms  in  turn  all  the  par- 
ticles of  the  mass.  Still  another  way  is 
through  the  connections  of  the  system.  In 
certain  systems  the  nexus  is  clearly  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  integers,  as  is  illus- 
trated in  the  Crystal  Palace:  the  panes  of 
glass  are  the  integers,  and  the  iron  frame- 
work is  the  nexus.     A  metallic  rod  through 


HARM  IN  THE  SYSTEM  333 

the  center  of  one  pane  may  conduct  an 
electric  bolt  harmlessly  away;  but  if  the  rod 
touches  the  rim  that  encloses  the  pane,  then 
the  bolt  would  course  from  one  rim  to  another 
through  the  whole  framework  and  cover 
acres  w4th  fragments.  Whenever  structural 
harm  is  found  in  connection  with  any  of  these 
principles  of  perversion,  it  is  fatal. 

Some  systems,  instead  of  being  concrete 
w^holes,  present  their  component  parts — 
material,  instrument  and  power — clearly  dis- 
tinct from  one  another;  and  fatal  harm  may 
be  regarded  as  operating  through  one  of  these 
component  parts,  and  in  this  indirect  way 
affecting  the  whole  system.  For  example 
if  the  power  of  the  heart  is  impaired,  the 
weakness  in  powder  is  felt  throughout  the  whole 
arterial  system;  if  the  heart's  main  instru- 
ment, the  aorta,  is  impaired,  the  effects  ex- 
tend to  all  the  other  arteries ;  and  if  a  particle 
of  the  blood,  the  material,  becomes  poisoned, 
the  harm  spreads  throughout  all  the  blood. 

Let  us  consider  first  the  spread  of  fatal 
harm  through  the  material  of  the  system. 
If  the  water  which  circulates  through  the 
water  system  of  a  city  becomes  contaminated, 
all  the  residents  may  become  affected.  If 
false    ideas    and    vicious    thoughts    circulate 


334        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

through  the  press,  the  whole  community  is 
demorahzed.  A  brilHant  but  immoral  writer 
may  send  his  vicious  influences  throughout 
the  whole  circle  of  his  readers. 

The  same  principle  holds  true  with  reference 
to  the  spread  of  harm  through  the  instru- 
ments of  a  system.  If  on  the  arrival  of  news 
from  a  foreign  country  the  main  telegraph 
line  be  cut,  the  injury  defeats  the  spread  of 
the  news  throughout  the  whole  nation.  If 
the  main  trunk  line  of  a  railway  system  be- 
comes blocked,  traffic  on  all  the  connecting 
lines  is  interrupted,  and  thus  the  harm  spreads 
through  all  the  instruments  of  transporta- 
tion. If  a  general  is  expecting  an  attack 
and  there  are  forces  at  a  distance  that  can  be 
summoned,  this  block  on  the  line  may  de- 
feat their  arrival;  and  their  failure  to  arrive 
at  the  proper  time  may  cause  the  loss  of  the 
campaign. 

The  general  efficiency  of  a  system  depends 
upon  its  sustaining  and  vitalizing  power. 
Such  power  ramifies  throughout  the  system 
and  manifests  its  vigor  locally  in  all  parts. 
It  is  a  general  principle  that  when  a  power 
is  weak  to  some  extent  in  one  line  of  opera- 
tion it  is  weak  in  all  similar  lines  to  that  same 
extent.     In  the  distribution  of  water  through 


HARM  IX   THE  SYSTEM  335 

the  pipes  of  the  city,  if  the  pump  is  not  able 
to  drive  the  water  above  a  certain  level  in 
one  pipe,  it  is  not  able  to  drive  it  above  that 
level  in  any  other  pipe  similarly  situated. 
Just  so  the  efficiency  of  social  organizations 
depends  upon  the  power  of  the  leaders.  If 
this  power  is  weak  to  some  degree  in  one 
direction,  it  is  weak  to  the  same  degree  in  all 
similar  directions.  When  a  teacher  treats  a 
pupil  with  manifest  unfairness,  the  confidence 
of  all  the  pupils  is  shaken.  When  one  soldier 
is  unjustly  disgraced,  this  weakens  the  com- 
mander's influence  throughout  the  army  and 
tends  to  destroy  the  whole  structure  of  dis- 
cipline. Government  also  must  be  wisely 
organized  on  right  principles,  and  those 
principles  must  be  firmly  and  impartially 
enforced  b}^  the  ruling  power.  The  first 
essential  of  government  is  the  maintenance  of 
just  and  lawful  authority.  This  is  the  func- 
tion of  the  ruler.  If  he  is  unable  or  unwill- 
ing to  maintain  his  authority,  then  the  least 
disobedience  is  structural   evil. 

In  all  civil  governments  the  paramount 
danger  is  the  attack  of  structural  evil,  either 
through  indifference  to  law,  or  through  in- 
justice committed  by  the  rulers  themselves. 
Governments   can   survive   invasion   and    re- 


336        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

bellion ;  they  can  endure  oppressive  monopolies 
and  desolating  strikes;  they  can  keep  in  sub- 
jection immoralities  which  it  is  impossible 
to  extirpate.  But  the  perversion  of  justice 
by  the  government  itself  is  a  structural  evil 
which  attacks  the  very  life  of  the  state.  And 
the  higher  the  authority  that  perverts  justice, 
the  more  far-reaching  and  ruinous  the  evil. 
The  executive,  the  legislature  and  the  judi- 
ciary may  be  merciful  and  often  tolerant  out- 
side the  law;  but  they  must  always  be  abso- 
lutely just  and  impartial. 

What  pressure  has  often  been  brought  to 
bear  on  an  incorruptible  executive,  when  he 
has  stood  alone  in  his  resistance  to  some 
notorious  infraction  of  the  principles  of  jus- 
tice! Petitions  of  thousands,  enforced  by 
friendship  and  by  the  entreaties  and  tears 
of  the  innocent,  have  pleaded  for  the  pardon 
of  a  dangerous  offender.  In  the  executive's 
hand  is  the  law  which  reaches  every  person 
in  the  whole  domain.  He  holds  in  trust  the 
stored  possessions  of  centuries;  busy  indus- 
tries far  and  near  look  to  him  for  protection. 
Sleeping  millions  in  city  and  hamlet  are 
exempt  from  molestation,  because  the  frame-' 
work  of  the  law  is  strong.  Let  the  ruler 
swerve  from  his  duty,  let  this  one  offence  go 


HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM  337 

unpunished:  that  breach  of  trust  will  run 
like  an  electric  shock  through  the  whole  fabric 
of  society,  and  every  repetition  of  the  error 
will   intensify   the   structural   harm. 

As  with  the  executive,  so  with  the  judiciary. 
Judicial  decisions  must  often  be  made  in  the 
midst  of  clashing  interests,  of  partisan  strife 
and  of  sparring  advocates.  The  heated  pas- 
sions of  the  populace  may  press  the  case  for 
hasty  determination.  But  the  judges  must 
sit  calmly,  guided  by  reason  and  right.  They 
are  conscious  that  they  are  operating  in  a 
system  whose  pathw^ay  through  the  nation's 
history  is  undeviating.  Intricate  legal  ques- 
tions have  threatened  to  confuse  their  judg- 
ment, but  have  been  unravelled  and  set  in 
their  true  light.  Claims  involving  vast  in- 
terests have  been  ably  disputed,  but  at  their 
bidding  they  have  been  settled  forever.  Great 
political  parties  have  met  in  contests  that 
agitated  the  whole  country,  but  have  yielded 
to  a  word  from  the  bench.  The  government 
itself  has  been  litigant  in  that  august  court, 
and  when  the  decree  has  been  rendered  against 
it,  has  retired  in  respectful  acquiescence. 
Judges  have  said  to  mobs,  "Thus  far  and  no 
farther."  They  have  held  on  their  course 
through  revolutions.     Looking  beyond  writ- 


338        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

ten  laws  to  primitive  beliefs,  customs  and 
necessities,  they  have  arrived  at  unchanging 
principles  and  these,  though  not  formulated 
and  enacted  by  legislation,  are  yet  so  wrought 
into  common  law  that  they  are  as  binding  as 
if  they  had  been  adopted  by  a  congress  of 
nations.  The  judges  care  not  whether  the 
case  involves  a  dollar  or  a  million,  the  boun- 
dary of  a  garden  or  that  of  an  empire,  the 
right  of  the  weakest  to  cast  a  vote  or  that  of 
the  strongest  to  grasp  a  sceptre.  Even  the 
humblest  alien  must  not  appeal  in  vain  when 
his  natural  rights  are  threatened.  A  band 
of  slaves  overpower  their  captors  on  the  high 
seas,  their  ship  is  picked  up  adrift  and  towed 
into  port,  rendition  is  urged  by  the  owners, 
the  slavesjare  without  money  and  are  unable 
to  speak  the  language.  The  whole  structure 
of  international  law,  making  the  slave-trade 
piracy,  rests  on  the  decree  of  the  court. 
Now  suppose  that  the  decision  is  in  favor  of 
the  owners  and  that  the  captives  are  remand- 
ed to  slavery;  suppose  it  comes  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  public  that  the  judges  were  bribed. 
The  outrage  on  the  captured  savages  is  a 
trifle  compared  with  the  blow  to  the  majesty 
of  the  law. 


HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM  339 

As  with  the  executive  and  the  judiciary, 
so  also  with  the  legislature.  The  legislative 
power  is  often  forced  to  deal  with  international 
questions.  Every  nation  sets  bounds  which 
no  other  must  pass  and  commits  watch  and 
ward  over  all  its  interests  to  chosen  repre- 
sentatives. They  must  suffer  no  foreign  ag- 
gression however  slight  to  pass  unchallenged, 
for  the  authority  of  a  nation  depends  upon 
the  respect  it  commands  from  other  nations 
at  all  times  and  places.  Let  a  single  house 
on  the  frontier  be  seized  by  another  govern- 
ment, and  what  rallying  of  forces  to  restore 
it  to  its  rightful  owner!  Let  it  be  but  a  cabin 
on  a  little  island,  and  w^hat  mustering  of  naval 
forces  to  exact  redress!  A  frail  vessel  in  the 
peaceful  paths  of  commerce  must  be  guarded 
like  so  many  feet  of  native  soil.  Let  that 
vessel  be  stopped  in  mid-ocean,  let  it  be 
seized  and  detained,  and  no  matter  whether 
in  arctic,  antarctic  or  equatorial  seas,  all 
needed  warships  must  be  sent  to  secure  its 
release.  If  legislators  are  forgetful  of  the 
rights  of  the  humblest  citizens,  or  obsequious 
to  powerful  nations,  or  bought  with  money — 
then  the  very  structure  of  the  government 
is   undermined. 


340    EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

We  need  not  hesitate  to  extend  these  con- 
siderations to  the  moral  government  of  the 
universe.  If  there  were  partiality  and  favor- 
itism in  that  government,  if  wrong-doing  were 
ever  ignored  so  that  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked  were  treated  alike,  the  whole  spiritual 
universe  would  suffer  irreparable  structural 
harm.  Sovereignty  itself  can  have  no  choice 
here  but  to  carry  out  the  eternal  and  un- 
changing dictates  of  justice  and  righteousness. 

One  disloyal  life,  lived  with  im.punity, 
would  fill  with  dismay  and  consternation  all 
moral  beings  in  this  world  or  in  any  other. 
As  the  inviolabihty  of  physical  law  is  the 
supreme  condition  of  science,  so  the  inviola- 
bility of  moral  law  is  the  supreme  condition 
of  ethics.  Without  it,  we  should  be  plunged 
into    hopeless    confusion. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IN  THE  SYSTEM. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  saw  that  while 
the  social  system  in  its  ideal  purpose  and 
intent  is  good  and  beneficent,  evil  may  never- 
theless work  through  it  and  perhaps  destroy 
even  the  system  itself.  The  effect  of  our 
study  was  rather  depressing.  As  one  from 
visiting  hospitals  and  reading  the  annals  of 
disease  may  be  led  for  a  time  to  conclude 
that  health  and  soundness  nowhere  exist, 
so  a  study  of  evil  in  the  system  unless  balanced 
by  a  broader  survey  may  tend  to  a  despair- 
ing view  of  the  outlook  for  humanity.  We 
now  pass  to  consider  the  opposite  facts  which 
make  for  hope  and  cheerfulness. 

And  first  it  is  plain  that  if  society  is  to 
exist  at  all,  evil  must  always  be  subordinate. 
As  we  have  said,  evil  can  flourish  only  as  a 
parasite  on  goodness  and  can  never  gain 
complete  ascendancy  without  destroying  it- 
self. Thus  the  very  existence  and  continu- 
ance of  the  social  system  prove  the  supreme 

341 


342        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

power  of  the  good.  The  good  indeed  is  not 
yet  fully  triumphant  but  it  is  gaining  on  evil 
all  the  while.  A  further  study  will  show 
that  the  system  itself  tends  to  eliminate  evil 
and  to  further  the  good. 

A  preliminary  principle  is  that  the  social 
system  is  a  developing  one  and  is  moving 
toward  its  fuller  consummation.  In  this 
process  evil  may  be  largely  a  phase  of  our 
imperfect  development,  and  to  this  extent 
the  cure  of  harm  will  take  the  direction  of 
eliminating  it  by  growing  beyond  it,  or  by 
bringing  the  curative  forces  of  life  itself  into 
play.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  both  of  these 
processes  must  appear  in  any  vital  and  de- 
veloping system.  In  all  organic  life  there  is 
provision  for  restoration  of  health  within 
certain  limits.  The  vital  forces  rally  and 
expel  the  disease  or  repair  the  mischief. 
Bishop  Butler  was  the  first  to  extend  this 
analogy  to  the  whole  natural  order,  which 
he  described  as  a  "remedial  system."  As 
an  organism  reacts  against  disease,  so 
normal  human  nature  reacts  against  evil, 
and  social  forces  rally  to  overcome  the 
menacing  and  destructive  forces  that  arise 
from  time  to  time.  The  incontestible 
fact     that    society    has    endured    and     im- 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  I\   THE  SYSTEM      343 

proved  gives  us  at  the  outset  of  our  study 
in  this  chapter  the  vital  standpoint  of  health, 
recuperation,  growth  and  progress  as  the 
normal  condition  of  society. 

Another  preliminary  principle  is  the  self- 
limiting  power  of  evil.  It  seems  hardly  too 
much  to  say  that  selfishness  itself  is 
one  of  the  conservative  forces  of  society. 
Of  course  it  is  distinctly  anti-social  and 
destructive,  but  under  restraint  it  be- 
comes a  great  source  of  law  and  order. 
The  selfish  man  left  to  himself  would  sub- 
ordinate everything  to  his  own  interests. 
But  there  are  other  selfish  men  w^ho  wish  to 
do  the  same  thing,  and  every  man  cannot 
have  his  way.  Every  man's  first  vote  might 
be  cast  selfishly,  but  every  man's  second 
choice  is  for  justice  and  impartiality.  Thus 
out  of  the  clash  of  conflicting  selfish  interests, 
arises  a  social  order  that  approximates  jus- 
tice and  the  common  good.  The  security 
which  the  sefish  man  desires  for  his  own 
interests  is  attainable  only  through  an 
established  moral  order,  and  thus  selfishness 
itself,  the  arch  anti-social  ])rinciple,  is  made 
to  become  a  supporter  of  justice  and  social 
order.  Even  a  rabble  of  thieves  thrown  to- 
gether in  some  Botariy  Bay  settlement  would 


344        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

have  to  establish  and  enforce  the  same 
principles  that  obtain  in  a  moral  community. 
Thus  evil  to  a  certain  extent  is  its  own  cure 
and  holds  itself  in  check.  It  is  not  merely 
a  parasite  on  goodness,  as  in  the  case  of 
sharpers,  knaves  and  hypocrites,  whose  oc- 
cupation would  be  gone  if  the  great  body  of 
men  were  not  honest  and  sincere ;  but  it  also 
tends  positively  to  limit  itself  and  its  de- 
structive action  by  working  the  opposite 
principle  of  good.  This  self -limiting  power 
of  evil  is  one  of  the  most  beneficent  features 
of  the  human  order  considered  as  a  means 
of  moral  development.  Just  as  some 
disease-producing  bacteria  secrete  substances 
which  destroy  themselves  so  the  tendencies  of 
moral  evils  to  eliminate  one  another  afford 
us  great  encouragement. 

From  these  preliminary  principles  we  turn 
now  to  the  actual  cure  of  harm  in  systems. 
One  of  the  most  important  influences  exerted 
in  this  process  is  the  internal  rallying  power 
which  exists  in  every  organic  system.  We 
shall  find  this  power  both  in  the  life  of  in- 
dividuals   and    in    all    social    systems. 

Every  individual  has  these  forces  of  re- 
cuperation in  himself.  He  has  the  ability 
to  draw  upon  his  own  resources  for  the  con- 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX   THE  SYSTEM      345 

serving  of  his  spiritual  interests.  As  a  social 
and  moral  being  he  possesses  in  a  high  degree 
the  rallying  power  characteristic  of  his  body 
as  an  animal  organism.  In  mechanical  sys- 
tems when  one  part  is  injured  there  is  no 
resident  force  in  the  system  which  can  re- 
place it.  There  is  no  power  in  the  machine 
which  tends  to  repair  the  worn-out  part  or 
to  substitute  new  parts  for  the  old.  In 
living  organisms,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  an 
inherent  tendency  that  makes  for  recupera- 
tion. It  is  the  rule  of  all  organic  life  that 
the  organism  normally  possesses  more  vi- 
tality and  physical  force  than  it  ordinarily 
needs.  Bodily  disease  is  cured  mainly  by 
drafts  on  such  reserve  powers.  The  surplus 
energies  of  the  whole  react  to  make  good  any 
losses  of  special  parts. 

This  is  an  essential  distinction  between 
mechanical  and  organic  systems.  The  charac- 
teristic power  of  the  organism  appears  for 
instance  in  the  way  new  shoots  of  a  tree  grow 
when  other  shoots  have  been  cut  off.  If 
the  bark  is  torn  from  the  side  of  the  tree  and 
twigs  are  properly  inserted  between  the  upper 
and  the  lower  edges  of  the  wound  the  sap 
will  ascend  by  means  of  these  twigs  and  new 
bark  will  be  formed.     Our  bodies  have  the 


346         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

same  recuperative  power.  If  a  wound  is 
made  in  the  flesh  the  heaUng  process  begins 
at  once.  When  the  Hmb  is  amputated  the 
blood  in  the  tied-up  artery  has  power  to 
form  new  passages  to  the  venous  system  for 
itself  and  thus  to  keep  up  the  circulation. 
Furthermore  the  bodily  system  is  so  con- 
stituted that  when  one  organ  does  not  do  its 
work  properly  the  other  organs  endeavor 
to  supply  its  function.  In  short  the  bodily 
organism  consists  not  only  of  cooperating 
members  but  of  mutually  supporting  and 
compensating  parts. 

The  soul  too  may  be  regarded  as  an  organic 
system.  Each  part  is  virtually  related  to 
the  whole  and  has  its  place  and  power  and 
meaning  from  its  relation  thereto.  It  has 
the  tendency  to  self -cure.  There  are  resident 
forces  in  it  that  make  for  recovery.  One  of 
these  forces  is  the  instinct  of  self-preserva- 
tion, which  operates  in  even  the  lowest 
forms  of  life.  There  is  an  instinctive 
tendency  to  withdraw  from  anything  that 
is  harmful  or  dangerous.  In  the  more 
highly  developed  forms  of  life  this  in- 
stinct becomes  rationalized  but  the  prin- 
ciple is  the  same:  to  escape  from  whatever 
threatens    the    preservation    of   life. 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      347 

The  terms  "recuperation"  of  the  mind  and 
"renewal"  of  the  vsoul  are  not  mere  meta- 
phors. There  are  deep  regions  in  man's  Hfe 
whence  come  thoughts  that  make  for  his 
mental  health;  there  are  pure  feelings  in  the 
heart  that  have  great  refreshing  power.  The 
mind  may  recover  its  power  to  think  the  truth, 
the  heart  its  power  to  feel  the  beautiful, 
and  the  will  its  power  to  struggle  for  the 
realization  of  goodness. 

Again,  when  a  man  does  wrong  there 
are  inner  checks  upon  him.  There  is  the 
restraint  of  his  better  nature.  There  is  the 
condemning  voice  of  conscience.  The  par- 
able of  the  Prodigal  Son  is  a  familiar  instance. 
His  conversion  was  due  to  the  severity  of  his 
discomfort  and  to  the  power  of  his  moral 
nature  to  revive  old  memories  and  awaken 
the  latent  sense  of  duty  into  poignant  re- 
morse. The  greatest  expression  of  penitence 
in  literature  is  found  in  David's  repentance 
for  the  murder  of  Uriah.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
sudden  accessions  of  remorse  following  out- 
breaks of  passion  and  ambition  led  nobles  and 
rulers  to  penance  and  often  to  retirement  for 
life  in  religious  institutions.  And  in  every  age 
the  evil  doer  is  "kicking  against  the  pricks" 
from  the  very  beginning  of  his  sinful  career. 


348        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

The  soul  is  the  great  battlefield  of  history 
and  therein  the  forces  of  right  oppose  the 
forces  of  wrong.  Reason  rallies  to  control 
blind  passion;  the  sense  of  duty  steadies  the 
soul  in  the  presence  of  temptation.  In  our 
moral  life  we  all  feel  these  righteous  forces 
at    work. 

The  human  soul  itself  is  built  for  righteous- 
ness. This  fact  manifests  itself  in  the  ideals 
of  the  moral  nature  and  in  the  voice  of  con- 
science. The  law  of  life  in  the  body  reveals 
itself  in  the  health  and  comfort  that  attend 
regard  for  physical  law  and  in  the  pain  and 
disease  that  follow  physical  wrongdoing.  In 
the  same  way  the  law  of  life  in  the  soul  mani- 
fests itself  in  the  spiritual  well-being  that 
attends  obedience  to  moral  law  and  in  the 
self-condemnation  and  remorse  that  follow 
evil  courses.  Conscience  arms  itself  with 
terrible  scourges  for  punishment.  In  the 
long  run  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard, 
while  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining 
light  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day.  The  verdict  of  the  race  as  re- 
corded in  the  great  literatures  and  great  re- 
ligions is  that  only  in  righteousness  is  there 
safety  or  peace.  The  power  in  man  that 
condemns  evil  and  makes  for  righteousness 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      349 

is  also  a  recuperative  power  that  makes  for 
returning  moral  health  and  goodness.  Forces 
springing  from  this  source,  when  duly  roused 
become  the  spiritual  champions  of  the  empire. 

All  social  systems  have  a  similar  rallying 
power.  Society  as  well  as  the  individual 
constantly  seeks  to  store  up  resources  against 
evil  days.  As  an  individual  accumulates 
funds  in  banks  and  insurance  companies 
to  strengthen  himself  against  assaults  of 
fortune,  so  society  builds  hospitals,  asylums 
and  prisons  and  gathers  wealth  to  pro- 
tect itself  against  future  as  well  as  present 
perils.  These  storages  of  social  surplus  are 
correlated  with  anticipated  needs  of  struggle 
against  harm. 

The  inherent  curative  tendencies  thus  far 
considered '  are  reinforced  by  supplementary 
aid  from  without,  and  in  default  of  such 
aid  they  could  not  effect  the  cure  of  harm. 
To  these  efficient  auxiliaries  we  now  di- 
rect our   attention. 

The  first  of  these  moral  auxiliaries  is  the 
family  relation.  Altruism  is  no  late  develop- 
ment. Its  extension  to  universal  humanity  is 
indeed  a  recent  unfolding,  but  the  virtue  has 
been  present  in  the  family  relation  from  the 
start.    In  the  home  children  get  their  first  and 


350        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

best  lessons  in  obedience,  self-control,  mutual 
consideration  and  all  the  virtues  needed  for 
living  together.  Parents  also  get  some  of 
their  best  training  from  their  relation  to 
their  children.  The  child  takes  the  parents 
out  of  themselves  and  leads  them  to  a  patience 
and  tenderness  and  self-sacrifice  which  could 
hardly  be  learned  otherwise.  And  thus  it 
comes  to  pass  that  parenthood  becomes  our 
highest  symbol  for  the  divine.  It  interprets 
to  us  the  divine  goodness,  and  the  depths  of 
God's  patience  with  the  human  race.  If 
human  life  could  exist  without  the  fam- 
ily, as  in  Plato's  fancied  Republic,  it 
could  with  difficulty  become  moral  at  all. 
The  obligation  to  the  family  reputation  and 
family  expectations  also  operates  as  a  power- 
ful restraint  against  evil  courses.  A  worthy 
ancestry  is  in  itself  a  certain  security  for  the 
descendents. 

A  second  auxiliary  that  makes  strongly 
for  morality,  and  thus  for  the  elimination 
of  the  evils  that  flow  from  immorality,  is 
that  sympathy  which  is  a  part  of  the 
original  furniture  of  the  soul.  Sympathy 
is  not  indeed  the  sum  of  morality,  as  Adam 
Smith  thought,  but  as  men  are  constituted 
it   is   a   fundamental   condition   of   morality. 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX   THE  SYSTEM      351 

It  is  necessary  for  the  encouragement  and 
inspiration  of  the  individual.  Through  sym- 
pathy the  individual  receives  fresh  enthusiasm 
and  new  strength  for  his  spiritual  battle. 
The  sympathy  of  the  family  is  very  powerful 
in  the  life  of  the  child.  The  steadfast  faith 
that  others  have  in  men  encourages  them  to 
make  strenuous  efforts  to  live  a  noble  life. 
In  the  moral  life  especially  we  are  members 
one  of  another. 

Sympathy  is  still  more  needed  to  bring  the 
individual  within  a  wider  range  of  moral 
interest.  Men  are  not  much  impressed 
by  the  rights  or  wrongs  or  needs  of  those 
to  whom  they  stand  in  no  relations  of 
sympathy.  Humanity  itself  constitutes  a 
certain  bond,  but  it  is  seldom  effective 
without  some  measure  of  acquaintance. 
Our  common  humanity  leads  us  to  sympathy 
in  cases  like  ships  lost  at  sea,  but  usually 
something  more  than  our  common  humanity 
is  needed.  The  civilized  world  had  largely 
agreed  on  the  wrongs  of  slavery,  but  the 
conviction  remained  dormant  until  the 
imagination  was  powerfully  impressed  with 
the  horrors  of  the  practice.  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  raised  armies  to  enforce  the  emanci- 
pation  proclaimed   by    Lincoln.     The    rights 


352    EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

of  the  backward  races  have  been  ignored  too 
long  because  of  our  failure  to  recognize  their 
humanity,  and  this  in  turn  has  been  due 
partly  to  selfishness  but  still  more  to  ignorance 
arising  from  distance  and  lack  of  common 
interests.  The  latter  cause  is  being  fast 
removed  by  the  extension  of  the  "world 
neighborhood,"  and  we  are  coming  to  see  the 
oneness  of  humanity.  We  are  more  and 
more  realizing  ourselves  as  forming  one  social 
body  so  that  humanity  reacts  more  and 
more  extensively  and  intensively  against 
harm  to  any  part.  This  is  putting  an  end 
to  the  rapacity  and  insolence  of  the  higher 
races  in  their  dealings  with  the  lower.  The 
facts  are  too  near  and  too  vividly  realized 
to  permit  us  to  rest  in  the  old  indifference. 
Even  the  oppressor  of  the  Congo  Free  State 
could  not  ignore  the  rising  tide  of  humanity 
and  the  imperious  condemnation  of  public 
opinion. 

This  power  of  sympathy  as  a  force  for  good 
is  manifesting  itself  on  an  ever-growing  scale. 
Everywhere  men  are  nearer  to  us  and  there- 
fore they  are  becoming  dearer  to  us.  This  ap- 
pears in  the  aid  rendered  to  communities 
stricken  by  disaster,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
recent  calamities  at  San  Francisco,  Valparaiso 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      353 

and  Jamaica,  and  in  the  famine  relief  offered  to 
India  and  China.  It  also  appears  in  the 
growing  power  of  public  opinion  on  inter- 
national relations.  The  sympathy  of  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States  for  Japan  in  the 
recent  war  was  an  expression  of  it.  The 
loud  outcry  of  Europe  and  America  at  the 
horrible  misgovernment  and  massacres  by 
the  Turkish  authorities  will  put  an  end  to 
them  some  day.  No  nation  is  now  so  shame- 
less as  to  be  indifferent  to  the  esteem  of 
others. 

Another  factor  in  social  development  that 
makes  in  the  main  for  good  is  the  spread  of 
education  and  general  culture.  This  is  an 
important  auxiliary  without  which  morality 
would  sink  into  ignorant  good  intentions. 
The  usual  objection  that  education  and  cul- 
ture merely  give  power  but  have  no  moral 
quality  is  only  half  true  at  the  best  and  is 
mainly  false.  The  value  of  morality  and 
religion  lies  in  a  development  of  the  whole 
soul ;  and  the  only  thing  that  saves  them  from 
destructive  narrowness  is  their  promotion  of 
all  human  interests.  Poverty  of  ideas, 
and  limited  intellectual  sympathy  drag 
the  moral  and  religious  nature  itself  down 
into  abjectness  and  squalor,  and  cause  it  to 


354        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

grovel  in  destructive  superstition.  Every- 
one who  has  the  passion  for  truth  and  knows 
the  joy  of  the  search  for  it  and  the  deep 
satisfaction  in  possessing  it,  can  bear  witness 
to  its  power  of  creating  a  more  serious  in- 
terest in  life.  The  beauty  of  this  world  of 
wonder  and  its  representations  in  the  fine  arts 
have  a  transfiguring  influence.  It  saves  men 
from  being  absorbed  in  sordid  and  vulgar 
interests.  It  causes  them  to  rejoice  in  the 
finer  things  of  life  and  to  find  satisfaction  in 
the  realities  which  minister  to  man's  deeper 
needs.  The  great  interpretative  principles 
of  life  which  the  master  philosophic  minds 
have  developed  have  the  same  influence. 
The  forces  of  culture  tend  to  drive  out  the 
prejudices  and  illusions  which  so  dominate 
ignorant  minds.  They  elevate  the  taste, 
purify  the  feelings  and  give  the  mind  a 
nobler  satisfaction.  They  tend  to  make 
men  effective  in  their  cooperations  with  one 
another  and  with  the  forces  of  nature  and 
with  the  divine  reason.  They  make  men 
feel  at  home  in  the  spiritual  world  which 
answers  to  all  the  deepest  needs  of  their  minds 
and  hearts. 

The  auxiliary  factors  thus  far  mentioned 
as  making  for  the  cure  of  harm  are  founded 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      355 

ill  human  nature  itself.  There  is  a  final 
factor  which  has  its  foundation  in  the  natural 
order  of  physical  life.  Eveny^thing  which 
grows  to  maturity  is  subject  to  decay. 
There  is  a  perpetual  renewal  of  natural  prod- 
ucts and  a  continual  succession  of  human 
generations.  Now  this  order  of  physical  life 
is  a  fact  of  profound  significance  for  the 
renewal  and  purification  of  society.  Death 
is  the  great  friend  of  human  progress. 
When  old  age  has  brought  stagnation, 
when  convention  is  rusted  fast  so  that 
new  ideas  are  rejected,  there  is  one  sure 
remedy.  Death  removes  those  whose 
day  is  done,  or  those  who  have  mortgaged 
themselves  to  evil,  and  a  new  and  wholesome 
life  has  a  chance.  Birth  and  death  go  to- 
gether in  the  human  order,  and  both  are 
equally  necessary  to  the  progress  of  humanity 
in  its  present  phase. 

These  steady  replenishings  of  decay  and 
waste  are  best  observed  on  a  large  scale  after 
the  devastations  of  war.  Mill  has  pointed 
out  that  in  a  few  years  after  the  conquest  of 
a  country  by  an  enemy,  things  are  much  as 
they  were  before.  What  has  been  destroyed 
w^ould  soon  have  perished  and  have  been 
replaced  from  the  ordinary  surplus  of  social 


3S6        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

life.  Macaulay  noted  that  the  terrible  cost 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars  did  not  prevent  Europe 
from  growing  richer.  The  millions  in  arms 
did  not  destroy  wealth  as  fast  as  peaceful 
workers  created  it.  Thus  nature  perpetually 
renews  itself.  The  crop  of  the  new  year 
makes  up  the  lack  of  the  old.  The  stores  of 
nature  are  no  fixed  amount  which  cannot  be 
used  without  permanent  diminution;  they 
are  continually  replenished  by  fresh  har- 
vests. Such  devastations,  followed  by 
recovery  and  surprising  harvests  are  per- 
petually recurring  in  the  field  of  morals.  The 
riot  of  disorder  and  lawlessness  is  followed 
by  a  powerful  reaction.  Public  opinion  is 
set  against  prevalent  wickedness.  Many  a 
man  who  could  bear  the  pangs  of  his  own  dull 
or  undeveloped  conscience  shrinks  at  the 
ostracism  of  society.  This  social  condem- 
nation has  an  immense  restraining  influence. 
Even  the  most  abandoned  quail  before  it. 
The  same  social  conscience  under  the 
guidance  of  intellect  is  effecting  reforms 
in  every  field"  of  life.  Moral  progress  of 
the  individual  and  of  society  itself  is  con- 
tinually going  on.  Social  forms,  govern- 
ment,  art,   literature,   industry   and   finance 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      357 

are  gradually  being  brought  into  harmony 
with  the  moral  nature. 

The  results  thus  far  are  encouraging.  So- 
ciety is  not  handed  over  helpless  to  the  powers 
of  evil.  The  enthusiasm  of  humanity  is 
growing  and  intensifying  and  the  kingdom  of 
man  is  at  hand.  The  living  forces  of  society 
are  rallying  more  and  more  effectively  against 
the  forces  of  harm  and  death,  and  final  vic- 
tory is  sure. 

This  recuperative  power  appears  con- 
spicuously in  the  moral  tone  of  society 
as  a  whole.  Public  morality  may  seem  low 
enough  to-day,  but  when  w^e  look  no  farther 
back  than  the  recent  past  we  see  that  it  is 
higher  than  ever  before.  Wasteful  dis- 
play is  going  out  of  fashion.  The  rich  are 
recognizing  to  an  unheard-of  extent  the 
obligations  which  their  wealth  imposes.  The 
philanthropic  gifts  of  a  recent  year  amounted 
to  more  than  $130,000,000  in  the  United 
States  alone.  The  public  conscience  too  has 
grown  more  sensitive.  Men  have  learned 
that  social  conditions  are  social  products  and 
they  feel  it  their  duty  to  improve  them.  This 
sense  of  responsibility  leads  to  better  sanita- 
tion, better  housing  for  the  poor,  better  in- 
struction, and  to  the  prohibition  of  industrial 


358        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  financial  methods  that  are  contrary  to 
public  policy.  In  political  morality  also  the 
same  advancement  is  seen.  A  man  of  no- 
torious wickedness  could  with  difficulty  be 
elected  to  any  prominent  position  nowadays; 
and  a  good  name  is  a  valuable  asset  in  poli- 
tics. The  right  of  office-holders  to  plunder 
the  community  is  more  and  more  contested 
and  the  way  of  the  grafter  is  becoming  hard. 
All  these  signs  of  progress  are  encouraging 
and  full  of  promise. 

Thus  far  we  have  concerned  ourselves  with 
such  remedial  forces  in  human  nature  and 
society  as  operate  spontaneously.  Besides 
these,  however,  there  are  the  definitely  or- 
ganized forces  of  law  and  order  which  society 
calls  into  existence  for  its  own  protection 
under  the  form  of  government.  Concern- 
ing the  true  function  of  government  there 
is  no  agreement  among  writers  on  po- 
litical science.  Some  would  restrict  the 
field  of  social  control  to  police  duty  only, 
while  others  would  extend  it  to  include  a 
general  supervision  of  all  social  activities. 
The  tendency  at  present  is  to  enlarge  the 
field  of  social  control.  On  either  theory  the 
relation  of  government  to  harm  in  the  system 
and  to  its  cure  is  very  essential. 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  /.V  THE  SYSTEM      359 

And  it  is  in  this  field  that  we  note  great 
progress  in  recent  years,  owing  to  the  exten- 
sion of  knowledge.  Penology  has  always 
had  a  right  moral  feeling  behind  it;  but 
from  lack  of  knowledge  its  story  abounds  in 
horrors.  The  history  of  prisons,  and  of 
the  treatment  of  criminals  is  revolting 
in  the  extreme.  The  old  theory  was  that 
crime  is  always  the  outcome  of  evil  intent 
and  that  society  owes  no  duty  to  the 
criminal  except  his  punishment.  The  mod- 
ern view,  in  its  most  radical  form,  is  that 
crime  is  the  inevitable  result  of  heredity 
and  environment  and  that  the  criminal  is  not 
morally  responsible.  The  truth  as  usual 
must  lie  somewhere  between  these  two  ex- 
tremes. The  old  theory  now  seems  stupid 
and  inhuman;  yet  common-sense  refuses  to 
be  satisfied  w^th  shifting  guilt  from  the  indi- 
vidual to  his  collective  ancestry  or  to  his 
surroundings.  Every  case  must  be  judged 
on  its  own  merits.  Still  no  reasonable  man 
doubts  that  there  is  a  large  class  of  moral 
defectives  and  that  these  are  not  proper 
objects  of  vengeance.  They  should  be  treated 
like  the  victims  of  disease — cured  if  possible, 
but  kept  at  all  events  from  spreading  con- 
tagion.    The    recognition    of    these    facts    is 


36o        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

working  a  general  change  in  the  whole  science 
of  penology.  This  science  now  has  the  double 
aim  of  defending  society  and  of  reforming 
the  criminal,  so  far  as  this  can  be  done  with- 
out imperilling  the  more  important  social 
interests. 

But  whatever  view  we  take  of  the  nature 
of  crime,  society  has  no  more  imperative  duty 
than  to  make  wise  laws  and  then  to  uphold 
them  with  all  the  power  at  its  command. 
Wise  legislation  is  needed  for  social  guidance, 
and  for  the  development  of  both  the  social  and 
the  individual  conscience.  Law  is  the  great 
instrument  by  which  the  collective  wisdom 
of  the  community  is  crystallized  for  social 
guidance  and  defence.  Through  law  the 
individual  gets  the  benefit  of  a  wisdom  be- 
yond his  own  for  his  direction  and  of  a  power 
beyond  his  own  for  support  and  defence. 
In  this  way  the  community  is  saved 
from  the  weakness  and  waywardness  of 
individuals,  and  the  continuity  of  social 
order  is  secured.  But  no  law  is  really  in 
force  unless  it  is  enforced  by  proper  sanc- 
tions. Law  without  penalty  is  not  law  but 
only  advice  or  exhortation.  Whenever  a 
community  forgets  this  and  begins  to  trifle 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      361 

with  law  it  invites  anarchy  and  social  dis- 
integration. 

The  repressive  and  punitive  function  of 
government  has  been  the  most  prominent 
in  history  and  even  this  has  seldom  been 
wisely  exercised.  But  in  the  complex  rela- 
tions of  the  modern  state,  government  tends 
more  and  more  to  exercise  the  function  of 
prevention  and  guidance.  Legislation  is 
now  taking  up  larger  questions  of  social 
development:  the  conservation  and  utiliza- 
tion of  natural  resources,  the  encouragement 
of  works  of  public  utility,  the  facilitat- 
ing of  private  enterprise  by  appropriate 
legislation,  the  guarding  of  the  public  health 
by  pure  food  and  sanitary  laws,  the  protec- 
tion of  society  against  individual  rapacity, 
and  the  revision  of  all  individual  rights 
and  all  social  customs  and  traditions  in  the 
interest  of  the  commonwealth.  It  is  in 
this  field  that  the  great  significance  of  gov- 
ernmental action  as  a  means  for  preventing 
and  curing  harm  is  to  be  found  in  the  future. 

The  last  factor  we  shall  mention  as  mak- 
ing for  the  healing  and  perfection  of  life  is 
religion.  This  is  the  highest  element  in  hu- 
man nature.  It  lifts  man  above  the  visible 
and  temporal  and  allies  him  with  the  unseen 


362        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

and  eternal.  Without  religion  man  is  only 
the  highest  of  the  animals;  with  it  he  is  a 
child  of  God.  In  religion,  life  has  always 
found  its  highest  and  strongest  inspiration 
and  its  deepest  and  purest  spring.  If  that 
which  is  perfect  should  come  in  human  life 
religion  would  be  found  coordinating  and 
subordinating  all  our  faculties.  It  is  their 
summit  and  crown.  They  all  find  their 
security  and  full  realization  in  religion. 

History  may  appear  to  be  against  this  out- 
look. Religion  does  not  seem  always  to  have 
held  this  high  place  or  to  have  fulfilled  this 
lofty  function.  Hence  the  imperfect  develop- 
ment of  imperfect  beings  will  of  course  show 
an  imperfect  religion.  But  even  under  such 
conditions  and  apart  from  any  question 
of  its  truth,  religion  has  always  played 
a  most  important  part  in  human  history 
and  commonly  a  beneficent  one.  There 
seems  now  to  be  no  question  that  the 
beginnings  of  society  were  bound  up  with 
rites  and  customs  that  were  essentially  re- 
ligious. And  however  harsh  and  cruel  the}^ 
may  seem  to  us,  they  were  useful  in  their  time, 
furnishing  the  social  fixity  that  was  supreme- 
ly needed  at  the  beginning  and  the  tie  that 


THE  CURL-:  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      363 

bound    together   ignorant    tribes   into   larger 
social  wholes. 

The  supreme  instance  of  this  social  service 
on  the  part  of  religion  is  found  in  Christianity. 
Other  religions  have  served,  but  their  limita- 
tions and  imperfections  are  fast  rendering 
them  obsolete.  They  are  unable  to  meet  the 
demands  which  the  developed  intellect  and 
conscience  make  upon  them.  They  can  fur- 
nish no  worthy  thought  of  God  or  man  for 
the  guidance  and  inspiration  of  life,  and  be- 
cause of  this  they  are  visibly  perishing  be- 
fore our  eyes.  But  Christianity  remains  fresh 
and  young  and  is  rapidly  advancing  to  world 
empire.  It  is  continually  purging  away  the 
impurities  that  have  attached  themselves  to 
it  and  ever  more  clearly  manifesting  its  ovrn 
ideal  tendencies.  We  are  not  here  concerned 
with  any  question  of  the  theological  truth  of 
Christianity;  only  with  its  historical  results 
and  its  sociological  tendency.  Undeniably  it 
has  been  and  remains  the  most  important 
fact  in  all  history  and  the  greatest  of  all  the 
forces  that  make  for  the  healing,  the  inspira- 
tion and  the  progress  of  the  nations.  In 
Christianity  center  in  their  highest  form  the 
healing  and  inspiring  forces  of  our  human 
world.      Here    all    noble    endeavor    finds   its 


364        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

inspiration  and  warrant,  and  every  worthy 
aspiration  finds  assurance  of  its  fulfillment. 
Our  survey  of  the  curative  tendencies  of 
the  system  cannot  fail  to  be  encouraging. 
The  mechanism  of  influence  in  itself  provides 
for  the  propagation  of  all  influence,  good  and 
bad  alike.  Whether  the  net  results  shall  be 
predominantly  good  or  bad  depends  on  the 
condition  under  which  the  system  works  and 
on  the  nature  of  the  factors  involved.  The 
laws  of  physics  and  chemistry  are  compatible 
with  life  and  death ;  and  they  are  as  operative 
in  the  desert  waste  as  in  the  fruitful  field, 
in  the  dead  body  as  in  the  living  organism. 
There  can  be  no  life  if  these  laws  are  violated, 
but  whether  life  shall  really  exist  depends 
on  something  beyond  these  laws.  And  so  it 
is  with  the  laws  of  influence.  Their  results 
depend  on  something  beyond  them.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  matter  of  profound  satisfaction 
to  every  earnest  soul  to  find  that  the  great 
mechanism  of  life  and  society  makes  predomi- 
nantly for  good.  The  compulsion  of  social 
conditions  sometimes  bears  heavily  on  the 
individual,  but  on  the  whole  it  makes  for 
civilization.  The  progress  of  invention  often 
disturbs  social  equilibrium,  and  causes  hard 
times  for  many  until  adjustment  to  the  new 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      365 

conditions  has  been  secured,  but  nevertheless 
such  progress  is  taking  the  drudgery  off 
human  shoulders  and  turning  it  over  to  cos- 
mic forces  and  muscles  of  steel,  thus  leaving 
men  free  to  develop  a  higher  human  exis- 
tence. The  contagion  of  example  often  poi- 
sons, but  in  the  main  it  makes  for  righteous- 
ness. Heredity,  too,  is  a  source  of  fright- 
ful ills,  but  its  net  result  is  good;  other- 
wise society  could  not  endure.  The  iniquities 
of  the  fathers  are  visited  upon  the  children 
unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  but 
mercy  is  kept  for  thousands  of  generations 
of  the  righteous.  This  ancient  Hebrew  utter- 
ance is  the  truth.  The  evil  stock  runs  out, 
for  it  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  conditions 
of  existence,  but  righteousness  endures  from 
age  to  age.  Evil  is  plainly  a  parasite  and 
has  no  permanent  root  in  itself.  Kumanit}^ 
is  sound  at  the  core.  Conscience  may  be 
weak  but  its  dominion  is  extending.  Under 
its  rebuking  gaze  many  a  hoary  iniquity  has 
withered  away  and  many  another  is  doomed. 
The  power  not  ourselves  is  more  plainly  than 
ever  making  for  righteousness  and  humanity 
and  the  higher  life.  This  tendency  is  not 
everywhere  and  always  apparent,  but  it  be- 


366         EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

comes  manifest  in  the  long  run.  Righteous- 
ness exalteth  a  nation,  and  sin  is  the  re- 
proach and  destruction  of  any  people.  Its 
wages  have  not  been  changed.  They  remain 
fixed  at  the  old  rate  of  death. 

We  are  thus  led  again  to  the  idea  that  the 
system  in  its  ultimate  nature  is  moral.  Upon 
the  fact  of  this  morality  depends  the  vital 
faith  of  the  race.  When  men  think  the  forces 
of  the  system  indifferent  to  the  evils  of  the  hu- 
man world,  they  grow  hopeless  and  pessimis- 
tic. When,  on  the  other  hand,  they  see  the 
reality  of  the  moral  order  and  realize  that  its 
forces  work  for  righteousness,  then  they  take 
courage  and  gird  themselves  for  the  struggle. 
The  despair  of  pessimism  is  its  own  con- 
demnation ;  as  the  inspiring  effect  of  a  serious 
optimism  is  the  best  proof  of  its  truth.  And 
the  system  is  not  only  moral,  but  mor- 
ality is  becoming  more  and  more  triumphant. 
The  perfect  has  indeed  not  yet  come,  but 
humanity  has  made  vast  progress  within 
historical  times,  and  even  within  the  last 
hundred  years.  Such  an  age  as  ours  is  full  of 
encourarement  for  the  individual.  True  he 
feels  his  responsibility  to  society  as  never 
before,  for  he  sees  that  self  cure  and  social 


THE  CURE  OF  HARM  IX  THE  SYSTEM      367 

cure  must  go  together.  But  he  can  hve  and 
work  in  the  assurance  that  his  efforts  will 
not  be  wasted.  He  can  enter  the  conflict 
with  that  faith  in  the  triumph  of  his  cause 
which  is  at  once  the  brave  man's  inspiration 
and   his  exceeding  great   reward. 


CONCLUSION. 


The  history  of  mankind  is  a  confused  but 
inspiring  spectacle.  Man  came  upon  the 
earth  to  achieve  humanity.  Nothing  was 
given  him  ready-made,  not  even  himself. 
Language  had  to  be  developed;  the  physical 
world  had  to  be  brought  under  control ;  order 
had  to  be  established;  human  nature  had 
to  be  moulded  and  disciplined  for  the  higher 
social  uses.  From  such  beginnings  man  has 
wrought  out  the  magnificent  achievements 
of  our  civilization.  It  is  a  long  way  from  the 
cave  dweller  to  his  descendants  of  today: 
from  his  ignorance  to  our  science,  from  his 
rude  and  scanty  speech  to  our  developed 
language,  from  his  small  social  group  to  the 
highly  organized  modern  state,  from  his 
superstition  to  our  religion,  from  his  bondage 
of  physical  forces  to  our  mastery  over  them. 
Man  has  made  numberless  blunders,  and  it 
has  taken  him  ages  to  find  the  way;  but  in 
spite  of  his  blundering  he  has  continued  to 
368 


CONCLUSION  369 

improve  himself  and  his  condition,  until  now 
we  see  him  manifestly  at.  the  head  of  all  liv- 
ing orders  and  still  full  of  hope  and  expecta- 
tion, as  if  all  he  has  accomplished  were  but 
the  first  fruits  of  what  is  to  be  done  in  the 
future. 

Now  it  is  into  this  heritage  of  well-ordered 
achievement  that  the  individual  is  born. 
He  finds  the  world  cleared  up,  travel  made 
easy,  language  developed,  society  organized, 
science  and  invention  in  active  progress; 
schools,  libraries  and  churches  at  his  service: 
so  much  without  any  effort  of  his  own. 
Other  men  labored  and  he  has  entered  into 
their  labors. 

This  vast  inheritance  carries  with  it  im- 
mense obligations.  The  treasures  that  have 
come  down  to  us  from  the  past  are  not  for 
our  selfish  consumption.  We  must  transmit 
them  improved  and  augmented  to  the  genera- 
tions following,  for  we  are  members  of  an 
advancing  race.  What  the  future  is  to  be 
depends  on  what  we  are  and  what  we  do  in 
the  present.  Every  social  movement,  large 
or  small,  springs  from  an  individual  initiative. 
The  great  system  of  society  enables  the  indi- 
vidual to  exert  his  influence  so  as  to  produce 
far-reaching    results,    and    this    effectiveness 


370        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

increases  as  society  advances.  Any  man, 
whatever  his  position,  has  far  greater  influence 
today  than  he  could  have  had  five  hundred 
years  ago,  because  the  progress  of  civiHzation 
has  multiplied  his  powers. 

These  considerations  apply  equally  to  the 
rank  and  file  of  humanity  and  to  the  leaders 
of  civilization.  The  obscure  individual,  the 
average  man  as  we  call  him,  may  feel  that 
he  is  lost  in  the  crov/d,  that  his  efforts  count 
for  little  or  nothing  and  that  consequently 
he  is  under  no  obligation  to  work  for  social 
advancement.  But  this  is  a  disastrous  mis- 
take. What  he  thinks,  what  he  says,  what 
he  is,  spreads  by  diffusion  through  the  mil- 
lions who  stand  on  his  level,  and  there  results 
from  the  constant  interplay  of  such  forces  the 
comimon  standard,  the  common  belief,  the 
common  demand,  to  which  the  leaders  of  the 
race  miust  adjust  their  enterprises.  Thus 
it  is  the  average  man  who  gives  moral  tone 
to  the  community.  When  there  is  corruption 
in  high  places,  it  is  generally  true  that  this 
is  because  the  majority  of  men  are  Vv^illing  to 
have  it  so.  Society  suffers  more  from  the 
thoughtlessness  and  faithlessness  of  the  aver- 
age man  than  from  any  other  cause. 


CONCLUSION  ST  I 

But  the  effectiveness  of  the  average  man 
is  not  confined  to  the  influence  which  he  exerts 
in  the  unorganized  forces  of  society.  He  is 
also  an  indispensable  factor  in  the  higher 
forms  of  organized  social  life.  Every  system 
of  education,  of  finance  or  of  government 
needs  the  men  of  ordinary  abilities.  No 
amount  of  sagacity  or  energy  or  even  of  genius 
on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  m.ankind  can 
avail  without  the  faithful  cooperation  of  the 
rank  and  file.  The  best  laid  plans  may  be 
wrecked  by  the  neglect  or  treachery  of  an 
obscure  subordinate.  The  connections  of  the 
system  give  potential  importance  to  the 
humblest  of  its  members.  A  recruiting  ser- 
geant may  furnish  a  handful  of  soldiers  that 
shall  turn  the  scale  in  battle.  A  law  clerk 
may  find  a  fact  or  a  flaw,  a  policeman  may 
detect  and  produce  a  witness,  that  will  win  a 
case  affecting  the  whole  trend  of  a  nation's 
history. 

Manifestly,  however,  it  is  to  the  exceptional 
man  that  life  affords  the  fullest  measure  of 
opportunity.  Such  m^en  are  natural  leaders 
on  account  of  their  inherent  qualities:  their 
energy,  sagacity  and  strength  of  v/ill.  More- 
over, they  \YOv\z  in  the  higher  methods,  espe- 
cially   in    the    method    of    correlation.     As 


372        EACH  FOR  ALL  AND  ALL  FOR  EACH 

civilization  grows  more  complex,  new  lines 
of  activity  are  distinguished  and  separately- 
organized.  This  process  of  special  organiza- 
tion is  progressive.  It  calls  for  continual 
combinations  on  a  larger  and  larger  scale. 
The  man  who  can  accomplish  such  com- 
binations is  the  man  of  power  in  the 
modern  social  system.  Such  leaders  now 
operate  in  a  world-wide  field  and  no  limit  can 
be  assigned  to  the  power  which  they  exert 
or  the  good  which  they  accomplish. 

But  the  supreme  opportunity  of  the  able 
man  is  found  in  the  crises  which  arise  from 
time  to  time  in  the  ceaseless  interplay  of  the 
complicated  forces  of  nature  and  of  society. 
At  such  a  moment,  the  leader  can,  by  a  single 
act,  set  free  and  direct  the  accumulated 
energy  of  millions  of  men  and  of  centuries  of 
social  development.  Crises  like  these  call 
for  the  highest  moral  and  intellectual  capacity 
that  human  nature  can  afford.  Then  the 
individual,  by  virtue  of  his  native  power 
and  by  the  help  which  he  derives  from  his 
ability  to  utilize  the  great  system  of  society, 
with  its  ever-advancing  resources  and  more 
and  more  efficient  mechanism,  may  exercise 
a  commanding  influence  on  the  history  of 
civilization.  At  such  a  moment  we  recognize 
most  clearly  the  function  of  the  individual 
in  society,  the  service  rendered  by  Each  to  All. 


INDEX. 


Abelard,  123. 

Abnormal    operations,    harm 

of.  317- 

Accident,  as  initiative,  29,  30. 

Achilles,   143. 

Actions,  by  initiation,  60. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  fore- 
told Civil  War,  302. 

Adaptation  to  environment, 
212-220. 

Adjustment  of  forces,  183, 
tends  topermanence,  211. 

Advantages  of  succession,  69, 
of  divergence,    103. 

Aesthetic  groups    17-22. 

Africa:  commerce  from,  112- 
188. 

Agreement  in  cooperation, 
175,  tends  to  perma- 
nence,   2 1 1. 

Alcuin,    palace    school,    174. 

Alexander  the  Great,  child- 
hood, 143,  conquests  by 
148. 

Alexandria,  commercial  cen- 
ter, 108,  297. 

Ali,  son  in  law  of  Mohammed 
187. 

Alphabetic    writing,    36. 

Althorp,  Lord,  integrity  of, 
192. 

Altruism  349. 

America  assimilates  races, 
300. 


American  Revolution :  causes 
of,   284. 

Amos,  43. 

Amru,  general  at  Siffin,  187. 

Analine  dyes,   233. 

Ancestors  far  away  traced 
in    descendants,     153. 

Ancient  City:  De  Conlanges, 
278. 

Andrassy,  96. 

Angelo,   Michael,    135. 

Anglo-Saxon   laws,    262. 

Antagonistic  forces,   309. 

Antioch,  site  of,  church 
of,  124. 

Arabia,  trading  in,  105,  Mos- 
lem, 188,  nationalized, 
199. 

Arabic  notation  36. 

Arbitration  and  Conciliation, 
181. 

Architecture,    Romanesque, 
283. 

Aristotle,  123,  and  Scholas- 
ticism,   155,    p!ulosophy 

12,    155- 
Arithmetic,    practical    origin 

of,  154. 
Armada,  Spanish,    144. 
Armenians,    relieved,    272. 
Army,  structural  harm  in,  325 
Arrangement,    in    succession 

69. 
Art,  54. 


373 


374 


INDEX 


Arthur,   King,    13. 

Asia  Minor  under  Rome,  283. 

Asiatic   tribes   shifting,    278. 

Assisi  St.  Francis  of,  43. 

Astor:  fortune    of,    295. 

Astronomy,  30,  58. 

Association,   110,126. 

Athens,  center  of  learning, 
108,  ohgarchy  impos- 
sible 220,  progress  of  in- 
dividualism,  249-253. 

Augustine     in     Britain       30. 

Augustine,    St.,    43,    45- 

Augustus'     sagacity,     192. 

Aurelius,  Marcus  59. 

Aurungzebe  61. 

Austria  and  Flungary  64,  132, 
and  Prussia,  296,  in  coa- 
lition with  Holland  and 
England,  to  defeat  Na- 
poleon,  183. 

Avalanche,   by  a  voice,  329. 

Average  man:  modern,  267, 
social  advantage  of,  269, 
his  chances  improving, 
267-270,  370-372- 

Babylon   71,   Monarchy   246. 

Center  of  commerce  108,  coa- 
lition with  Egypt  and 
Lydia,  182,   tablets   286. 

Bach  II,  family,  149. 

Backward  races  291-352. 

Bacon  302. 

Bagehot,  50,  on  Greek  cul- 
ture 252. 

Balance  sheets,    291. 

Ballads,    patriotic,    234. 

Banks  in  New  York,   127. 


Battle,  Princeton  61,  Sara 
toga  92,  Thermopylae, 
119,  Marathon  185,  Sif- 
fin  187,  Poitiers  188, 
Waterloo  295. 

Beethoven,    11. 

Belgium  under  Rome,  283. 
and  Holland,  63. 

Bell   telephone,    34. 

Benedict,  St.  of  Nursia,  158. 

Bentham,  55. 

Bequest,    96. 

Berkeley,  Locke  and  Hume, 

155- 

Berlin,  124. 

Bessamer  steel,  29. 

Bible  Society  in  Constan- 
tinople, 106. 

Biology:  Darwin,     41,     280. 

Birmingham,  290. 

Bismark,  133,  leader  in  Gov- 
ernment, 197,  Danish 
Duchies,  296. 

Black  Death,   320. 

Blockades,  173. 

Bolingbroke,   194. 

Booms  in  Stock  Market,  177. 

Bo.ston,    Franklin-legacy    89. 

Bourbons,  Spanish,  326. 

Bourgois,   class,   261. 

Brasidas,   the    Spartan,    194. 

Brazil,   city  of   Cabril,    29. 

Britain  under  Rome,  283, 
mission  of  Augustine,  30. 

Business  contracts,  95,  men 
cautious  about  slavery 
232. 

Cabril,  in  Brazil  29. 

Caesar   38,    197. 


INDEX 


375 


Calais,  Black  Death  in,  320. 

Calendar  82. 

California  29,   184. 

Callimicus   185. 

Calvin  38,  43. 

Canal,  Ene   74-   Panama  90. 

Cathedral,  Milan  95. 

Cavallo,  22. 

Chance,  for  initiative,  40, 

27-34,   for  average  man 

370-372. 
Charlemagne,     37,    76,     149- 

174.  197- 

Charles  Martel,  149.  ^88. 

Charles   the   Dauphin,    62. 

Charles  I.  of  England  181, 
184.  262. 

Charles  II.  of  Spain,   326. 

Charles  V.  of  Spain,  76. 

Charles  X.  of  France  63,  149- 

Chicago,    125,   271. 

Child  is  father  of  the  man, 299 

Childhood,  environment,  141- 
2,  of  Alexander,  143,  of 
Hannibal,  143.  dwarfing 
of,   in   London   325. 

China,  320. 

Christ,  23,  135,  the  su- 
preme   leader,     205-207. 

Christian  children  bred  into 
Turkish  janissaries   325. 

Christian  era  82. 

Christianity  conversion  of 
barbarians,  24,  converg- 
ing point  of  history,  135, 
threatened  by  Moslems, 
188,  256,  fresh  and 
young  363. 


Chronology,  80. 
Chronometer.  211. 
Church   16,  of  Anlioch    109, 
Roman     Catholic,     113, 
disestablishment    in 
France,    115,    medieval, 
a  state   258. 
Cicero    55. 

Cities  54,  as  centers  107,  con- 
vergence in,  1 23-1;  6, plan 
not  easily  changed,  214, 
(see  Athens,  Babylon, 
Rome  etc.) 

Civil  War,  from  conflicting 
interests,  212,  previous 
decay,  281,  foretold  by 
Adams,  302,  caution  of 
business    men,    232. 

Civilization,  bond  of  unity,  6, 
afTected  by  religion,  198, 
promoted  by  difTusion, 66, 
convergence  of  forces, 
134,  complexity  of  mod- 
ern, 168,  oriental  origin 
of;  246,  modern,  798. 

Clay,  Henry,  magnetism  of, 
194. 

Clayton,    Bulwer   treaty,  90. 

Clearing  House,  175. 

Clermont,  62. 

Clericals  and  Socialists,  185. 

CUmate,  Lyell  on,  40. 

Clinton,  Gen.,  too  late  at 
Saratoga  92. 

riinton,  DeWitt,  Erie  Canal 

74. 
Coalition,  type  of  Correlation 
iSi,  of  Babylon,  Egypt 
and  Lvdia  1S2,  of  Greek 


376 


INDEX 


states  182,  of  England 
Austria  and  Holland  183. 

College  226. 

Colonies  266. 

Columbus  40. 

Commerce  74,  chambers  of 
128 

Common  law,  235. 

Commons,    house    of,    157. 

Communication,  by  succes- 
sion 7 1 ,  importance  of , 76. 

Concentration,  118. 

Conciliation,  and  arbitration 
181. 

Condillac  44. 

Condorcet,  44. 

Confucius  142,  199. 

Congress  of  Vienna,  Talley- 
rand, 184. 

Conquests  of  Alexander,  148. 

Conscience   308,   347,    348. 

Constantine,  45,  109. 

Constantinople  106,  124,  183. 

Constitution,  American,  87, 
English    88. 

Constitutional  government, 
236. 

Continuity  of  system,   279. 

Contracts,  in  business,  95. 

Control,   inner,    16. 

Convergence,  fourth  method 
118-137. 

Cooperation  of  forces  by 
mutual    agreement,  175. 

Copernicus,    11,    135. 

Cordova,   108,    125. 

Corinth,  coalition  with  Ath- 
ens  182. 

Cornwallis,  56. 


Corporations,  123-129,  con- 
servative, 233. 

Correlation,  sixth  method 
164-189. 

Corruption   of   youth,    325. 

Cost  of  degeneracy,  151. 

Coup  d'etat  in  1830,  63. 

Court,  Supreme  of  U.  S.  87, 
159- 

Cotton-gin,  31,  market,   271. 

Craft    lines  obliterated,    156. 

Crimea,  29,  320. 

Cromer,  Lord,  114. 

Cromwell,  37,   171,   184. 

Crusades,  258. 

Crystal  Palace,  332. 

Cuneiform  writings,  288. 

Cuneus,    Leyden-jar,    33. 

Cure  of  disease  by  recupera- 
tion, 346. 

Cure  of  harm,  341-367. 

Cyrus,   182. 

Damascus,   Paul's  vision,  44. 

Danger    of    degeneracy,  151. 

Danish  Duchies  andBismark, 
296. 

Dante,  293. 

Darwin  35,  41. 

Dauphin,  Charles,  62. 

David's     repentance,     347. 

Death,  a  friend  to  human 
progress,  355,  life  after, 
304-316. 

Decisions  in  early  life,  146. 

De    Coulanges,    278. 

Degenerate    families,  cost  of, 

151- 
De  Lesseps,  12. 


LWDEX 


377 


Democracy,      evolution     of, 

261-274. 
Democrats    ignored    slavery, 

179. 
Denmark,  loss   of   Schleswig, 

^33- 

Descartes   11,   12. 

Descendants,  traced  from 
ancestors    153. 

Diaz,  Portirio,  services  to 
Mexico,    115. 

DiflFasion,  first  method  49-66. 

Disclosures  made  by  the  sys- 
tem, 280. 

Disease  cured  by  recupera- 
tive power,  346. 

Divergence :  third  method 
loo-i  17. 

Division  of  labor,  172. 

Dominic,  43. 

Dorsetshire,  Black  Death  in, 
320. 

Douglas,  debate  with  Lin- 
coln. 192. 

Drake,  Francis,  143. 

Dryfus,  272. 

Dutch,  town  governments, 263 

Duty,  lasting  hold  on  con- 
science. 210. 

Dwarfing  children  in  Lon- 
don 324. 

Dyes,  analine,  233. 

Dyke  destroyed,  170. 

Earthquake  55. 

Ecclesia  in  Athens,  249. 

Eclipses,  291. 

Economy  in  groups  20,  by 
successive  method,  69, 
by    divergent,   103,    by 


convergent,  118,  Adam 
Smith  on,  155,  leaders 
of,  195,  need  of  8,  science 

of.  155- 

Education,  germinal  influ- 
ences, 144,  leaders  in, 
197,  cure  of  harm,  353. 

Edward  I.  and  II.  defeated 
by  Bruce  193. 

Edwards,  Jonathan  150. 

Egypt  under  Alexander,  297. 
Lord  Cromer.  114.  coali- 
tion with  Babylonia  and 
Lydia.  182,  monarchy 
246,  under  Rome,  283, 
hieroglyphics,  288. 

Elephantine   papyrus,    287. 

Elizabeth,  queen,   132. 

Employers'    liability,     170. 

Encouragement  for  cure  of 
harm,    364. 

England,  under  Charles  I. 
184,  262,  Congress  of 
Vienna,  184,  govern- 
ment might  become 
republican,  218.  social 
life  in  Middle  Ages, 
262,  democratic  since 
1832,  264,  mother  of 
parliaments,  265,  rural, 
and  manufacturing 
towns,   289. 

Entail,  limited,  97. 

Environment,  in  childhood 
142,  physical,  213,  so- 
cial, 2 15,  moral,  220,141. 

Epictetus,  59. 

Era,   Christian,   82. 

Erasmus,    135. 


378 


INDEX 


Erie  Canal,   74. 

Estates,  titles  to,  96. 

Ethical    science,    5,    9. 

Euclid,    II. 

Euphrates   valley,    246. 

Evil,  must  be  subordinate, 
317-340,  a  parasite  on 
goodness,  344,  self-elim- 
inating, 343,  inherent 
cure  of  344,  outv.-ard  cure 
of  349-364- 

Evolution,  social,  243-274,  of 
jury  system  157,  of  con- 
stitutions, 87,  88. 

Excitements,  diffusion  of,6i- 
65- 

Executive,  structural  harm 
in,  336. 

External  tests  of  a  system,  281 

Extraordinary  suggestion,  44. 

Factors  in  System   280. 

Faculties  peculiar  to  different 
groups,  16. 

Family  traits  persistent,  147, 
relation,  in   the  cure    of 
harm  349. 
Famine  in  China  and  India, 

353- 
Faraday,  11,  30,  34. 
Father  and  child,  299. 
Federation  of  the  v/orld,  270. 
Fenelon,  63. 
Feudalism,    219,    257. 
Fiske,  John,  304. 
Flamsted,   astronomer,    30. 
Flanders,  132. 
Flood,    331. 
Florence,    108,  220. 


Forecast  (see  future,  reading 

life  forward). 
France,    modern    64,    church 
disestablished  115,  high- 
ly     organized      govern- 
ment,  1 1 5 ,  reign  of  terror, 
181,  congress  of  Vienna, 
184,    Prussian   war,  296. 
Francis  of  Assisi  13,  43. 
Francis  Drake   143. 
FrankHn,  legacy  to  Boston,  89 
Frederick  the  Great,  38,  197, 

II.    76. 
Free-soil  party,    179. 
French  revolution,  8,  63,  65, 

171,   193,  2S1. 
French     clericals,    185,      so- 
cialists,   185,     spoliation 
89. 
Fulton's     steamboat     155. 
Future,   determined  by  suc- 
cession, 93,  business  con- 
tracts for,   95. 
Future  life,  304-316. 
Galileo,  155. 
Galvani   34. 
Gaul  under  Rome,  283. 
Genius,  creative,    42,    unique 

influence  of,    204, 
Geology;  Lyell,  4c,  279. 
Geometry,  uses  of,  79,  prac- 
tical origin  of,    154. 
German     clericals,    185,     so- 
cialists,  185,  Barbarians 
became  civilized  as  con- 
querors   of    Rome,   219. 
leadership,   296. 
Germany  in  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, 264. 


IXDEX 


379 


Germination      fifth     method 

138-163, 
Gladstone  and    Ireland,   iSo. 
Glasgow,    Rochdale    plan  in, 

175- 

Goethe:  on  liberation  of  hu- 
manity, 252. 

Government,  sphere  for  lead- 
ers, 196,  constitutional, 
236,  as  corporate  type  of 
divergence,  114  and  of 
con\ergence  131;  moral, 
of  the  universe  340,  func- 
tion of,  358,  structural 
harm  in,  336,  municipal 
in  Holland,  263. 

Grades  of  influence,  190-207. 

Grant,   Gen.    56. 

Gravitation,  law  of,  11,  33. 

Great  Britain,  against  Na- 
poleon 183. 

Great  men,  highest  grade  of 
influence  201,  Alexander 
202,  Caesar  202, 
Kant,  Spinoza  203, 
Darwin,  Pasteur  203, 
Christ  205. 

Greece,  invaded  by  Xerxes, 
182. 

Greek, cities  14S, culture,  252, 
society,  252. 

Green,  Miss,  suggested  cot- 
ton-gin, 31. 

Greenland,  Black  Death,  in 
320. 

Gregory  the  Great,  30,  43. 

Grotius,  founder  of  interna- 
tional law,    1 16. 

Groups:  economic    21,   intel- 


lectual and  aesthetic,  22, 
moral, 22,  religious  23-24, 
divergent,  161. 

Growth,  inner,  17,  natural 
process  of  139. 

Guilds,    21. 

Gun-powder  135,  170. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,    149. 

Habit,  in  the  six  methods 
224-236,  in  national  life, 
222,  in  religion,  241. 

Hague  tribunal.  94,  116,  273. 

Hamilton,  Alexander  89,  132. 

Hammurabi  125,  4S6. 

Handel   11. 

Hannibal  143,  169. 

Hard  times,  180. 

Hargreaves,  31,  155. 

Harm  in  the  system,  3 17-340. 

Hawkins,  Captain,  143. 

Hegel,  12,  248,  252,  264. 

Heroic  example,  61. 

Hermann:  monument,  238. 

Heliast,  in  Athens,    250. 

Helmholz,  12. 

Henry,  Prince,  the  navigator, 
1 1. 

Heredity,  147-152,  in  races, 
153-160. 

Heritage  from  the  past  369. 

Hewitt,  A.  S,   29. 

Hieroglyphics,  Egyptian  2 58. 

Hildebrand    38. 

Hirsh,   120. 

History,  makes  for  perma- 
nence  237. 

Hoang-ho    valley,    246. 

Hobbcs ;  v.'ar  of  ail  against  all 
245- 


380 


INDEX 


Hobson  92. 

Holland  183. 

Homer,  143. 

Horace,  274,  294. 

Hosea,  43. 

Hottentots,  299. 

House     of     Commons,     157, 

Irish  members   185. 
Huguenots,  38,  199. 
Humane  organizations,   16. 
Hume,    Berkeley  and  Locke 

155- 
Hundred  years  war,  132. 
Hungary  and  Austria,  64, 132. 
Hunter,  Sir  Wm.  122. 
Ideals,  individual,  13,  social, 

23- 
Ideas,  diffusion  of,  52. 
Imitation,  50-51. 
Immigration,    evils    of    324. 
Immortality,   304-316. 
Incorporation,  127. 
Independence  Hall,  237. 
India,  railway,  7 5, famine  272 
Indigo,  233. 
Indirect  action,  168,   attacks 

in  war,    169. 
Individual    initiative,    26-46. 
Individualism,  1-4,8,  promot- 
ed   by    social    evolution 

243-274- 
Industrial  war   233. 
Initiative,  by  individuals,  10, 

26-46,     evolution,     243- 

274. 
Inner  purpose  14,  growth,  14, 

control,   16. 
Instinct  of  immortality,  305. 
Institutions,    origin    of,  278. 


Instruments,    harm    of,   334. 

Integers,  119,  durability  of, 
192,  209,  improvement 
of,  by  convergence,  119. 

Integrity,  trait  of  leader,  192. 

Internal  rallying  power  of  a 
system,    344. 

International  coalitions,  182, 
law,  116,  period  274. 

Inventions,    36. 

Investments,   213. 

Ireland    and   Gladstone,  180. 

Irish  landlords  89, member, of 
Parliament  185. 

Isabella  of  Portugal,  326. 

Italy:  national  unity,    264. 

Italian  communes,  261,  earth- 
quake, 272. 

Jacobins   no,   171. 

Jamaica,    calamity,    353. 

James,  Prof.,  45. 

Janissaries,  Turkish  trained 
from   Christian   children 

325- 

Japan  and  Russia  131,  174, 
353,  famine,  272,  feuda- 
lism,  219. 

Jefferson,   80. 

Jerusalem  108,  126,  287. 

Jews,  race  perpetuated  by 
religion,  199. 

Joan  of  Arc,  45,  62. 

John  of  Castile  326. 

Jomini  and  Napoleon,  298. 

Judiciary  harm  of  corrup- 
tion, 337. 

Juggernaut  122. 

Jury  system, evolution  of,  157 

Kakatoa,   eruption,    319. 


INDEX 


381 


Kant,  12,  41.  155.  165. 

Kelvin,    Lord,   telephone,  36. 

Kepler,    11. 

Kindergarten,   156. 

Kingsley,  and  Maurice,   13. 

Kirchoff,    12. 

Knox,  43. 

Kunki,    131. 

Labor,  division  of  171,  and 
capital  179,  unions  21, 
1 29, 

Lafayette    193. 

Landslide    28 1. 

LaPlace,    solar    system    279. 

Latin,  languages  derived  from 
283. 

Law,  natural  15,  of  gra\ita- 
tion  II,  2,^,  Anglo  Saxon 
262,  common  235,  inter- 
national 116,  Roman  255 
283,  temporary  69,  sani- 
tary 361. 

Leaders  113,  119,  traits  of 
191,  in  education  197, 
examples  37,  76,  197, 
Christ   supreme    206. 

Le   Bon   42. 

Lee  Gen.   56. 

Legislation,  restriction  of  361 
harm  of  corruption  329. 

Leibnitz    11. 

Letters,  republic  of  271. 

Ley  den  jar  32. 

Liability,   employer's    170. 

Liberal  and  Tory  parties  180, 
185. 

Life,  future  304-316. 

Life  Insurance  129. 

Lincoln,     proclamation     38, 


351,    sagacity     192, 
Liquor  saloons  323. 
Locke,    Berkeley  and   Hume 

155- 

Locksley  Hall   i. 

Locomotive    155. 

Loe,  itinerant  preacher   144. 

Lombards   174. 

Long  Parliament  184. 

London,  money  center  108, 
112,  125. 

Louis  XIV.  63,  defeated  by 
William  of  Orange  183, 
by  the  Dutch  263. 

Loyola  30,  and  Luther   159. 

Luther  38,  43.  i35.  i7i- 

Lydia,  coalition  with  Baby- 
lonia and  Egypt    182. 

Lyell  on  climate  40.  unity  in 
Geology,  279. 

Macauley   356. 

Macedonia  37,  conquest  of 
Greece  253. 

Machinery,  makes  for  per- 
manence 216. 

Mackenzie,  social  philosophy 

14- 
Magnetism,    trait    of    leader 

194. 
Mails,  modern  72. 
Manchester,    Rochdale,   plan 

in    175,   not   represented 

in  Parliament  up  to  1832 

290. 
Marathon,  one  vote  185. 
Marco  Polo  29. 
Marcus    Aurelius     59, 
Mariner's  compass  53. 
Market,  stock  177,  cotton  271 


3  82 


INDEX 


Marsailles    125. 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice  87. 
authority  of  Supreme 
Court   159. 

Marston  Moor,  37. 

Martel,  Charles,  battle  of 
Poitiers  188. 

Masons,  Free:  craft  lines  ob- 
literated 156. 

Massachusetts,  elected  gov- 
ernor by  one  vote    184. 

Material,  harm  of  2,t,2>^  trans- 
formed by  germination 
140. 

Mauretania  under  Rome  283. 

Maurice,    and    Kingsley    13. 

Maurice  of  Saxony  301. 

Mauritania    and    Rome    283. 

Maxwell    1 1 . 

Mecca  122. 

Methods    (see    six    methods) 

Mexican  War,  one  vote  184. 

Mexico  under  Diaz  115,  re- 
public only  in  name  218. 

Michael  Angelo   135. 

Middle  ages:  opportunity  for 
all  classes  261,  social  life 
in  England  262. 

Milan  Cathedral  95. 

Milton   55. 

Mind,    recuperation    of    347. 

Mineral  springs  281. 

Mob  violence  319. 

Modern  Period:  progress  of 
individualism  263. 

Mohammed  43,  45,  199. 

Mohammedan  era  82. 

Moltke,  von  36,  weak  leaders 
against  him,    37,   prepa- 


ration    for     war      with 

France,  296. 
Monarchical  idea  of  deity  220, 
Monarchy,   in    Babylon    246. 

in  Egypt  246, ancient  247, 

Stuart  in  England  262. 
Monastery,     Monte     Cassino 

158. 
Monasticism    157,    258. 
Money  centers    loS,    112. 
Mongolian  type  299. 
Monroe  Doctrine  94. 
Mont  Blanc,  symbol  of  Christ 

206. 
Monte     Cassino,     monastery 

158. 
Moral  character  of  the  Social 

System   366,    principles, 

diffusion  of    52-59. 
Morality,  improving  257. 
Morgan,  J.  P.  in  panic  of  1908 

113- 

Moses,  as  religious  leader  199. 

Moslems,  in  Arabia,  Persia, 
Syria   188. 

Motier  9G. 

MovemiCnts,  political,  diffu- 
sion of  57. 

Mowiyah,  co:nmander  at  Sif- 
fin  187. 

Miilberg    301. 

Music  54. 

Musschenbroek     33. 

Mycenae  124. 

Naboth's   vineyard   247. 

Napoleon  36.  and  Alexander 
143,  abdication  184,  his 
generals  210,  at  Jena 
298,  his  tomb  238. 


IXDEX 


383 


Napoleon  III,  37. 

Naseby  37. 

Nature,  our  servant  27. 

Navigation,    scientilic    80. 

Nebulous  state  of  Solar  Sys- 
tem 279. 

Nehemiah,  date  of  288. 

Neo-Platonists  154. 

Newton,  Isaac  11,  33,  34, 
law  of  gravitation  40. 

New  France,  conquest  of  2S4. 

New  York  City,  center  of 
trade  121,  money  center 
108,  112. 

Nexus,    durability  of    211. 

Nicaragua:  loss  of  prosper- 
ity   233. 

Nicias,  the  Athenian,  Integ- 
rity of  193. 

Nile  valley  71,  246. 

Noailes,   Vicompte,    disin- 
terestedness of  193. 

Nodzu,  Japanese  General, 
131- 

Nogi,  Gen.  at  Port  Arthur, 
131- 

Norman  family  in  England 
149.  rule  in  England  262. 

North  Pole  40. 

Norway  and  Sweden    132. 

Novum    Organum    303. 

Obedience,  Loyola's  principle 
of  162. 

Oberamagau  122. 

Obligations  from  the  past  370 

Odd  Fellows,  craft  lines  ob- 
literated 156. 

Oku,   Japanese   general    131. 


Old  age  biings  stagnation 
345,  antidj-ates  immor- 
tality 310. 

Oligarchy,  impossible  in, 
brings  stagnation  345, 
Athens  220. 

Olympic  Games,  date  from  82. 

One  vote   184-185. 

Open  door  271. 

Opportunity:  in  medieval 
church  258,  for  average 
man     267-276,    370-372. 

Opposing    forces     1S3-188. 

Orange,  William  of  183. 

Orderly  spread  of  influence 
108. 

Organism,    defined    14-18. 

Organization,  basis  of  corre- 
lation 165,  subject  to 
harm    328.. 

Oriental  origin  of  civihzation 
246,  pov.-er  repelled  by 
Themistocles  182. 

Origin,  of  Anthmelic  154, 
of  civilization  246,  of 
constitutional  govern- 
ment  87,    88,    236,    246. 

Outer  suggestion  30. 

Oyama,  Gen.    174. 

Palace,  crystal  332. 

Panama,  canal  90. 

Panics  319. 

Papuans    299. 

Panisite,  e\  il  on  goodness  344 

Pardoning  power  336. 

Parental    influence    144. 

Paris  36,  125,  in  reign  cf  ter- 
ror 332,  fashion  center 
loS,  money  center   112. 


384 


INDEX 


Parliament,  English,  mother 
of  265,  one  vote  184, 
Irish  members  of  185, 
Sardinian  64. 

Parnell,  balance  of  power  185. 

Party,  in  U.  S.  179. 

Passau,   treaty  of   302. 

Past  obligations  outlawed  90. 

Pasteur  34. 

Paul,  vision  at  Damascus  44. 

Penn,  Wm.  in  youth  144. 

Penology  359-361. 

Pepin  149. 

Periods  of  prosperity   180. 

Permanence  tendency  to  208- 
241,  of  system,  helps 
prediction   277. 

Perseverence,  trait  of  leaders 

193- 

Persia,  Moslem  188. 

Persian  army  at  Thermopy- 
lae, 119,  colony  in  Egypt 
287. 

Peter,  of  Russia  197. 

Petrarch  135. 

Phidias  54. 

Philanthropic  gifts  357. 

Philip  of  Macedon  37,  his  con- 
quests   148. 

Philip  II.  of  Spain  and  the 
Dutch  263,  kidnapped 
son  of  William  the  Si- 
lent 325. 

Philippines   77. 

Philosophy  41,  Greek  schools 
123,  Plato  12,  41,  123, 
social  by  Mackenzie  14, 
stoic  255. 

Physical    environment     213. 


Physical  world  a  good  place 
for    civilization    71. 

Pitt,  leader  in  government, 
197. 

Plans     for    initiative     35-39. 

Plato  12,  41,  123. 

Poitiers,    battle    188. 

Political  parties  in  U.  S.  179, 
movements,  diffusion  of 
57,  importance  of  rapid 
transit   76. 

Poland  and  Russia  63,  par- 
tition of   281. 

Polo,  Marco   29. 

Port  Arthur,  siege  of  131. 

Postal  union  74. 

Power,  not  ourselves  making 
for     righteousness     221. 

Power-loom  32. 

Precedent,  obligations  im- 
posed by  87. 

Prediction,  in  daily  life  293, 
of  weather  1 7  3 ,  by  the  six 
methods  292-303,  of  a 
future  life   304-316. 

Premonitions   44. 

Preparation,  more  thorough 
for    competition    216. 

President  of  the  U.  S.,  im- 
mense  power   of    115. 

Press,    sensational    318. 

Principles,    moral,     diffusion 

of   57- 
Prisoners  of  war,  116. 
Prisons    359. 
Private  judgment :   Luther  on 

right    of    160. 
Prodigal  son  347. 


INDEX 


38s 


Progress  in  system  280, 
from  the  beginning  of 
the  race  368,  in  a  future 
life  316,  of  indiv'iduahsm 
through  social  evolution 
243-274. 

Prophetic  capacities  of  man 
311- 

Prosperity,  periods  of  180. 

Protestant  reformation  171. 

Prussia  and  Austria  296,  Con- 
gress of  Vienna  184,  in 
coalition  to  defeat  Na- 
poleon 183,  and  France 
in  1870,  296. 

Ptolemy  I.,  148. 

Pure-food  laws  361. 

Puritans,  expatriated  for  re- 
ligion   igq,   austere   329. 

Purpose,  inner  14. 

Pyrrhus   of   Epirus    149. 

Races,  backward  352. 

Racial  heredity   152. 

Railroads  75,  in  India  272, 
managers    of    120,     196. 

Rallying  power  of  system 
344- 

Raphael    54. 

Rapidity  of   Diffusion    66. 

Ravenna  124. 

Reaction  in  correlative  meth- 
od 176,  by  a  third  factor 
177,  forecast  of  good  or 
bad  times  301. 

Reading  life  backward  and 
forward   275-316. 

Reason  predicts  immor- 
tality 305. 


Recuperation    of    mind    347. 

Reform  bills  in  England  63, 
236,  290,  of  penology 
354- 

Reformation  under  Charle- 
magne 174,  Luther  171, 
Calvin  38,  43. 

Reign  of  Terror   181,  322. 

Religion  in  social  groups  23, 
revivals  of  65,  conver- 
gent forces  in  135,  grade 
of  influence  198,  creates 
civilization  199,  sphere 
of  leader  198,  tends  to 
permanence  239-241, 
cure  of  harm  361-367. 
in  Greece  251,  forms 
habits  241,  makes  for  in- 
ternal harmony  of  nations 
246,  perpetuates  races 
and  nations  198,  ad- 
justs to  environment 
241,  the  supreme  cure  of 
harm  361,  predicts  im- 
mortality  308, 

Religious  excitements  65.  in- 
fluences, consequence  of 
135,  liberty  in  Virginia 
236. 

Renaissance,  convergence  of 
forces   134. 

Renewal  of  nature  355,  o^ 
soul    347, 

Restoration  of  Charles  II. 
181. 

Retrospect,  conditions  of  277- 
280,  aids  of  281,  by  the 
six    methods    282. 


386 


INDEX 


Revolution,  American  284, 
French  8,  63,  65,  171, 
193,  of   1848  64. 

Richelieu  38,  197. 

Roads,    Roman    282. 

Rochdale     cooperation     175. 

RoUo  the   Northman    149. 

Rome  253-255  and  Gaul  283, 
and    Mauretania    283. 
a  city  state   253,   a  po- 
litical  center  108,  chro- 
nology of  82. 

Roman,  empire  283,  renewed 
by  Charlemagne  174, 
roads  283,  law  255, 
Catholic  Church  113, 
258. 

Romanesque  architecture  283 

Rosetta  stone  288. 

Rothschild:  battle  of  Water- 
loo 295. 

Rotten-boroughs   290. 

Rousseau  8. 

Runnymede    237. 

Russell  96. 

Russia  and  Japan  131,  174, 
and  the  TJ.  S.  134,  Con- 
gress of  Vienna  184, 
in  coalition  to  defeat 
Napoleon    183. 

Sagacity,  trait  of  lead- 
er 191. 

Salamis   238. 

Sallust   54. 

Sanitary  precautions  neglect- 
ed 177,  laws  361. 

San  Fancisco  earthquake  352 
rebuilt   215. 

Sanballat  287. 


Santiago,  channel,  92. 

Saratoga,  battle  of,  92. 

Sardinian    Parliament    64. 

Savings  Banks  127. 

Saxony,    Maurice    of    301. 

Saxons    174. 

Schleswig,    detached  from 
Denmark    133. 

Scholasticism,    155. 

School  144,  and  State  146, 
high  grade  of  influence 
197,  structural  harm  in 

325- 
Schurtz,    Carl,   on  Clay    194, 

Science  ethical  5,  7,  as  ini- 
tiative 40,  useful  53,  in- 
vestigators persistent 
216. 

Scipio   and   Hannibal    169. 

Scotland,  Black  Death  in  320 

Seleucus,  founder  of  Antioch 
109. 

Self-limiting  power  of 
evil  343. 

Sentiments,    diffusion   of   55. 

Sensational   press   318. 

Series  of  influences  166. 

Shakespeare:  lasting  in- 
fluence of  293. 

Shelley  55. 

Sheridan,  Gen.  37. 

Sifiin,  battle  of  187. 

Simplon  tunnel  72. 

Simultaneous  cooperation  in 
Correlation  173. 

Six  Methods  48-189,  in  grades 
of  influence  190,  of  So- 
cial influence  48,  of  pre- 


IXDEX 


387 


diction  294,  in  abnormal 
operation  317-331,  read- 
ing past  and  future  28 2, 
in  habit    224. 
Slavery,    ignored    by    Whigs 
and  Democrats  179,  dan- 
ger of  327,  abolished  by 
Lincoln's  proclama- 
tion 351. 
Sleep,  mental  problems  in  44. 
Sliding  scale  in  tariff,  177. 
Smalkald,    league    of    301. 
Smith.     Adam,     science     of 
economics         155,        on 
tariff     155. 
Social  progress  not  hostile  to 
individvialism     2.     influ- 
ence, by  method  of  Di- 
vergence    106,     institu- 
tions, make  for  civiliza- 
tion    217,     germination 
154-156,  settlement  iii. 
Social  System  5-25,  develop- 
ing        342,       in      moral 
system    366. 
Socialists  and  Clericals    185. 
Society,    essential  to    life    5, 
to   civilization    7,    not    a 
human  invention 8,  need- 
ed   for   economy    8,    for 
companionship  9,  for  re- 
straint and  guidance  10, 
modern     complexity 
of    167. 
Sociology    intimates    immor- 
tality 312. 
Socrates  123,  and  Plato  154. 
Solar  System,  nebulous  270. 


Solidarity  of  system   broken 

323- 

Soul  a  battle  field  146,  re- 
newal of  347,  built  for 
righteousness  248. 

South  America,  cause  of  an- 
archy in  233,  repubUcs 
in  conflict    278. 

Southern    Confederacy     132. 

Sovereignty,  divine,  must  be 
just  340. 

Space,  social  importance  of 
70,  successions  in  71-95, 
responsibility  imposed 

by  98. 

Spain  under  Rome  283, 
Moslem  188,  subject- 
ed by  Louis  XIV.,  183, 
royal  family  degener- 
ate 326. 

Spanish  Armada  144-  Royal 
family  degenerate  326. 

Sparta,  coalition  with  Athens 
182, 

Spartan  oligarchy,  persist- 
ent, 219,  laws  69. 

Specialization  216. 

Spencer,  Herbert   96,   278. 

Sphere  of  leaders  195. 

Spinoza  41. 

Spoliation  claims,  French  89. 

Stability,  difference  of  among 
men  209. 

Standard  Oil  Co.,    112. 

Stanley  in  Africa  40. 

State,  medieval  church  also  a 
state  158,  and  church 
in  France    115. 

State-rights  87. 


388 


INDEX 


Steamboat,    Fulton's    155. 

Steam  condenser  32. 

Steam   engine    31,    ships    75. 

Steel,  Bessamer  29,  corpora- 
tion 112. 

Stevenson's  Locomotives  155. 

St.    Petersburg    124. 

Stoics,   Philosophy  of   255. 

Strikes   and  lockouts    233. 

Structural    harm    318-340. 

Stuart  monarchy  262  (see 
Charles) 

Succession:  second  method 
68-99. 

Successive  summation  of  for- 
ces,  in   correlation    171. 

Suffrage  in   England    289. 

Suggestion,  outer  30,  inner 
39,  extraordinary,  43-44. 

Summation  of  forces   171. 

Supplementary  aid  in  the 
cure  of  harm  349. 

Surveys,  national  79. 

Sutter's  saw  mill    29. 

Swedenborg  45. 

Sweden  and  Norway    132. 

Sweden  in  coalition  to  defeat 
Napoleon    183. 

Swiss  Cantons,  secession  132. 

Sympathy  55,  in  cure  of 
harm  350. 

Syria,  Moslem  188,  under 
Rome     283. 

System,  the  social  5-25. 
disclosures  made  by  280, 
is  moral  366,  solar,  neb- 
ulous  279. 

Tablets,    Babylonian    286. 

Tacitus  54. 


Talleyrand  in  Congress  of 
Vienna    184. 

Talmud  88. 

Tarde  50. 

Tariff,  Adam  Smith  on  155, 
sliding  scale  177. 

Tarquins  253. 

Tasso  54. 

Teacher's  influence   144. 

Telephone,  Bell 34,  Kelvin  36, 
in  Japanese  war  131. 

Telegraph,     sub-marine     36. 

Telemachus    Fenelon    63. 

Temporal  laws  69. 

Tendencies  to  perma- 
nence   208-242. 

Terror,    Reign  of    181 

Teutonic  love  of  freedom  256. 

Texas,  one  vote  184. 

Themistoclese,     coalition 
against  Xerxes  182. 

Thermometer:     fever     281. 

Thermopylae  119. 

Third  estate  261. 

Third  parties    178-180. 

Thomas  a  Kempis  59. 

Thomson  12. 

Thucidides    54. 

Tigris- Euphrates    valley    71. 

Time,  scientific  conception  of 
83,  our  relation  to  70, 
responsibility  imposed 
by  98,  succession  of  81. 

Times,  flush   180. 

Titles  to  estates  96. 

Tolstoi  123. 

Tory     and     liberal     parties: 
balance     of     power     by 
-  Irish  18:;. 


INDEX 


389 


Total  abstinence   282. 

Towns,  rural  and  manufac- 
turing in   England    289. 

Trade,  in  Arabia  105,  makes 
trade    170. 

Traits,  family  149,  national 
and  racial  152. 

Transmission  of  estates,  titles 
etc.,  96. 

Travel,  rapid  73. 

Treaty,  Clayton-Bulwer  90, 
Passau  202. 

Tree,  renewal  of  bark,  345. 

Trigonometry,     uses    of     79. 

Tunnels,  in  Switzerland  72. 

Turkish  conquest  279,  janis- 
saries     325,      massacres 

353- 

Types  of  divergent  influences 
105-106. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  351. 

Uniformity,   by   divergent 
method    102. 

United  States,  contrast  to 
Russia  134,  evolution  of 
266,  individualism  an 
early  trait  of  264. 

Universe,  government  of  340. 

Urban,  Pope  62. 

Uriah,  murder  of  347. 

Utilitarianism,  Bentham 
on  155. 

Valleys  246,  Nile  71,  Tigris- 
Euphrates  71. 

Valparaiso    calamity    353. 

Vase   family   149. 

Venice  124. 

Venitian  oligarchy  neces- 
sary 220. 


Verne,  Jules  73. 

Victoria,  Queen,  death  of  56. 

Virchow  12. 

Virgil    54. 

Virginia:      religious      liberty 

in  236. 
Voice,    cause    of    avalanche 

329- 

Vote,  power  of  one  in  corre- 
lation  184. 

Wales,   Black  Death  in  32c. 

Walpole  132. 

War,  convergence  of  power 
1 3 1, of  all  against  all,  245 
democracy  against  272, 
replenishings    after,  355 

Warsaw,   duchy  of  64. 

Washington  56. 

Watt,  James  32,  steam  en- 
gine 155. 

Waterloo:  Rothschild  295. 

Water  system  contaminated 

335- 
Wealth,   of  Astor   295. 
Weather    predictions    173. 
Webster,  Dan'l.  French  spoil- 

ation    89,    on    Bunker 

Hill  238. 
Wesley  43. 

Whigs    ignored    slavery    179 
Whitefield  65. 
Whitney,  Eli  31,  cotton  gin 

155- 

William  of  Orange  defeats 
Louis  XIV.,    183. 

William  the  Silent 's  son  kid- 
napped by  Philip  II.  325. 

Wills,  accumulating  legacies 
in    88. 


390 


INDEX 


Workingmen,  progress  of  267. 
against  war  273. 

World-neighborhood     352. 

World-merger    270. 

Writing  alphabetic  36,  cu- 
neiform 288,  papyrus 
for  287. 

Xenophon,  ten  thousand  44. 


Xerxes,    invasion    of    Greece 
182. 

Yeast  in  Diffusion  49. 
Youth,    germinal    forces    in 

142,    decisions    in     146, 

corruption     of     325,     in 

colleges   226. 
Zoroaster,  as  religioxxs  leader 

43.    199- 


AA    000  354  774 


